Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Muxia

The peninsula was a celtic sacred spot. The whole area was resistant to conversion to Christianity and was only converted in the 1100s, when christian pilgrims from all over Europe headed to nearby Santiago already. The legend connected to this church "Nosa Senora da Barca" - and the area "Santuario da Virxe da Barca", may be connected to this late conversion. It tells, that St. James tried hard, to christianize the pagans here, but failed - and so was very disappointed. Virgin Mary (Virxe = Virgin) came to St. James on a boat from stone, to comfort him. The stones near the church are now said to be remains of that stone boat. When this legend got popular lots of pilgrims continued from Santiago via Fisterra to Muxia.

The Atlantic to the right - the harbour to the left, Muxia is lying on a peninsula on the "Costa de Morte" (= Coast of Death). The coast was given this name due to the many shipwrecks along the coast through the centuries. The worst one hit Muxia in November 2002, when the tanker ship "Prestige" broke open and sank, causing an enourmous oil spill, that polluted about 3000kms of coastline. In the center of this desaster was Muxia, where the black oilsludge came right into town. The massive cleanup of the oilspill, involving thousands of volunteers, was sucessful. Here are more details about the oilspill: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prestige_oil_spill fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prestige_(p%c3%a9trolier)