The Way of St. James
The route of the Way of St. James runs through the Council of Castropol, from Tapia de Casariego, accesing through Brul, a small village of the parish of Tol. From there it runs to Barrionuevo (New Neighbourhood), where it connects with the local road that leads to the Tol pilgrims hostel which has a capacity for sixteen beds.
In the village of Tol there was once a monastery, firstly devoted to Saint Mary and since the 11th century to Saint Salvador. Tough there are no vestiges left, it is mnetioned in the chronicles of this period. Special mention deserves the presence in the town of the knight Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, 'el Cid', who participated as a judge in a litigation born as a result of the discrepancies to preside over the opening of the Holy Ark.
In a crossing located less than half a mile away, the road forks in the direction of Castropol and Barres where two possibilities are offered to the pilgrim to continue his journey:
The first option takes us to Barres. From there we will continue towards Figueras and, once there, we will head to the Galician town of Ribadeo, crossing the estuary by boat or through the Saints' Bridge. In Figueras there was once an asylum or pilgrims hospital, located where today raises the Parochial Church, erected by the old corporation of seafarer.
The second option takes us to Castropol village, crossing the estuary by boat to Ribadeo or moving away from the coast in Péligos (near Las Campas, in the parish of Piñera) and headind towards La Venta and to Silvallana (in Lantoira, in the parish of San Juan de Moldes), where a few feet away we can find the chapel of 'Nuestra Señora de la Luz' (Our Lady of Light). Continuing along the road we reach the Vegadeo council, where we will head to Abres, the last Asturian village through which the pilgrim will walk into Galicia.