Santo Domingo de la Calzada

Domingo Garcia, an eleventh-century hermit, built a bridge, a road and a hostel here for pilgrims, and the town that grew around them carries his name. Its cathedral holds an unusual fixture: a Gothic coop set high in the wall of the nave, in which a live white hen and rooster are kept, replaced from a local flock every few weeks. The legend explains it: a pilgrim boy was falsely accused of theft and hanged, but survived through the saint's intervention, and when his parents told the magistrate, he replied that the boy was as alive as the roast fowl on his plate, whereupon the chickens stood up and crowed. The cathedral also has a Romanesque apse, a Renaissance altarpiece and a detached bell tower.

The main sights

• The live chickens - a hen and rooster kept in a coop above the nave.
• The Gothic coop - the carved housing built into the cathedral wall.
• The Romanesque apse - twelfth-century work at the east end.
• The detached bell tower - a baroque tower standing apart from the church.

When to go

April to June and September to October, the main Camino season; the town's fiestas in May include processions and the annual replacement of the birds. The cathedral closes for services and keeps a midday break.

Good to know

The cathedral charges for entry, which surprises some pilgrims. The chickens are the main curiosity and take five minutes to see. The town is small with services geared to walkers.

Nearby

San Millan lies south; the Camino Frances continues west toward Burgos.

Key facts