For medieval pilgrims from the British Isles and Northern Europe, A Coruña was the port they longed to see. From the 12th century onward, English, Irish and Flemish ships arrived here regularly, and the walk inland to Santiago became the Camino Inglés. The old quarter, the Ciudad Vieja, was refounded in 1208 by Alfonso IX of León on the site of an earlier Roman settlement, and its 12th to 13th-century church of Santiago is the official starting point.
The city is watched over by the Torre de Hércules, a Roman lighthouse completed around the reign of Trajan and still in use almost two thousand years later, the oldest working Roman lighthouse in the world. A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2009, it wears an 18th-century neoclassical shell over its Roman core, and legend credits Hercules himself with raising it over the buried head of the giant Geryon. The city's favourite heroine is María Pita, who rallied the defenders when an English fleet under Francis Drake and John Norris attacked in 1589, an irony not lost on today's English-speaking pilgrims.
Before setting out, stamp your credential at the tourist office under the arcades of the Praza de María Pita, beside the city hall. The glazed galleries along the waterfront and the small plazas of the old town make for a fine evening wander.
This branch is about 75 km, short of the 100 km normally needed for the Compostela. Since late 2016 the cathedral has granted it to pilgrims who start here and have also walked at least 25 km on a recognised pilgrim route in their home country, with stamped proof. The first stage to Sergude runs mostly on pavements through the suburbs, with the ría at O Burgo as its scenic highlight.
