Pico Sacro

Pico Sacro is a summit in the central Galician Massif and the municipality of Boqueixón. In antiquity it was known as Mount Ilicino, and features a hermitage, a cave, the remains of a medieval castle and a triangulation station. The mountain rises 530 meters (1,740 ft) and is known for its unique shape and a legend about the Apostle James. A deep and narrow cave sits just below the peak, and legend places a dragon there protecting one of the entrances to hell.[2]

Pico Sacro
Highest point
Elevation530 m (1,740 ft)[1]
Coordinates42°48′25.6″N 08°26′48.0″W
Geography
Pico Sacro is located in Spain
Pico Sacro
Pico Sacro
Parent rangeGalician Massif
Climbing
Easiest routehike

Background

In Galician mythology, Queen Lupa sent the disciples of the Apostle James, Theodore and Athanasius, to Pico Sacro to collect her oxen to help build a tomb for the apostle. Lupa did not tell them that there was a cave with an entrance to Hell, and that a dragon lived there.[3] The faith of the disciples protected them from the dragon and tamed the oxen.[4]

The Camino Sanabrés, a branch of the Way of Saint James, passes by the foot of the mountain originating in Granja de Moreruela.[5] The crest of the mountain is divided by a deep trench known as the "Rúa da Raíña Lupa" (English: Queen Lupa's path). The origin of the 2 by 6 metres (6.6 ft × 19.7 ft) gap is unknown; it may be a natural fissure, or the result of mining performed by the Romans or the Moors. Fanciful tales attribute the cut to Queen Lupa or the sword of a Titan.[6] Historian Antonio López Ferreiro hypothesized that the trench could have been used as a moat for the castle on the summit.[6]

The Benedictine Monastery of San Sebastián was built below the mountain's peak at the beginning of the 10th century by Sisnando I, bishop of Iria Flavia. The monastery was later dismantled by Archbishop Alonso de Fonseca to build a castle.[2]

The Castle of Pico Sacro was built in the Early Middle Ages near the top of the mountain, replacing a small chapel near the Monastery of San Sebastián. In the 15th century this fortress was destroyed during the Irmandiño revolts, but was later rebuilt by Archbishop Alonso de Fonseca to defend against the House of Altamira.[7][2]

Veneration

When an epidemic of Saint Anthony's fire was raging in Galicia, those afflicted would to go to the mountain and, after making an offering of bread at the summit, pray the following prayer:[8]

Holy Peak, Holy Peak,
consecrated by the blessed Saint James,
deliver me from this angry fire,
through the intercession of the Virgin Mary,
and Our Father and a Hail Mary.

Or, simply: "Sacred Peak, Sacred Peak, heal me from the malady that consumes me.[n. 1]

The academic Vicente Risco believes that this prayer dates from the 13th century, and notes that it is not addressed to any saint, but to the mountain itself as if it could hear and heal the person making the prayer.[9]

  • View of Pico Sacro
    View of Pico Sacro
  • View of Pico Sacro
    View of Pico Sacro
  • triangulation station atop Pico Sacro
    triangulation station atop Pico Sacro
  • Polar panoramic from the top of Pico Sacro
    Polar panoramic from the top of Pico Sacro
  • Map of the Jacobean legend in Historia del Apostol de Iesus Christo Sanctiago Zebedeo (1610), by Mauro Castellá Ferrer
    Map of the Jacobean legend in Historia del Apostol de Iesus Christo Sanctiago Zebedeo (1610), by Mauro Castellá Ferrer
  • Queen Lupa's path
    Queen Lupa's path
  • Pico Sacro cave
    Pico Sacro cave
  • Church of San Sebastián do Pico Sacro
    Church of San Sebastián do Pico Sacro

See also

Notes
  1. Pico Sagro, Pico Sagro, que te consagróu o bendito Sant-Iago, líbrame deste fogo airado, pola intercesión de la Virgen María, un Padre-nuestro e un Ave María. Ou, simplemente: "Pico Sagro, Pico Sagro, sáname do mal que eu trago."

References
  1. "Patrimonio geológico y minero – Filón de cuarzo de Pico Sacro". Archived from the original on 3 September 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  2. "A Granxa" (PDF) (in Spanish). Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 October 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  3. "The Jacobean Legend of Queen Lupa". TranslatioMedia. 27 May 2021. Archived from the original on 25 July 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  4. Regional Government of Galicia. "Legends of the Camino de Santiago". Google Arts and Culture. Archived from the original on 16 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  5. "Outeiro to Santiago". Caminos de Santiago. Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  6. "RÚA DA RAÍÑA LUPA / CALLE DE LA REINA LUPA". Concello de Boqueixón (in Galician). 14 October 2016. Archived from the original on 16 July 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  7. "O noso patrimonio – Castelos de Galiza/Galicia" (in Galician). July 2011. Archived from the original on 17 May 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  8. Frank, Roslyn M (Spring 2022). Exploring the Indigenous Face of Europe: Rethinking Fairytales, the Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela and Glass Mountain before Cinderella. uiowa.edu. Archived from the original on 18 June 2023. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  9. Risco 1962, pp. 271–272.

Bibliography
  • As Montañas De Galiza (in Galician). A Nosa Terra. 2006. ISBN 978-8483411261.
  • Risco, Vicente (1962). Ramon Otero Pedrayo (ed.). Etnogrfia: Cultura espritual. pp. 255–777. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
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