O Cebreiro

O Cebreiro sits at about 1,300 metres on the pass where the Camino Frances crosses from Leon into Galicia, one of the hardest climbs on the route, and pilgrims have stopped here since the ninth century. Several pallozas survive, round or oval stone houses with conical thatched roofs and no chimney, a building type descending from pre-Roman Celtic dwellings and lived in until the twentieth century; one is a museum. The church of Santa Maria la Real, ninth century in origin, holds a chalice and paten associated with a eucharistic miracle told since the fourteenth century, and Elias Valina, the parish priest who devised the yellow arrow waymarking now used along the whole Camino, is buried outside.

The main sights

• The pallozas - round stone houses with conical thatch, one as a museum.
• Santa Maria la Real - a church rebuilt in 1965-71 on ninth-century foundations, with its miracle chalice.
• The Valina grave - the priest who invented the Camino yellow arrows.
• The pass - the point where the Camino enters Galicia at 1,300 metres.

When to go

May to October, the main Camino season; winter brings snow and the hamlet is often in cloud, which is atmospheric but limits the view. The pass is cold and wet even in summer.

Good to know

The hamlet is tiny and heavily geared to pilgrims and day visitors, with several souvenir shops for its size. Cloud sits on the pass frequently. Accommodation is limited and books through the Camino system.

Nearby

The Camino Frances continues west toward Sarria; the Ancares mountains rise north.

Key facts