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Wise Pilgrim APPMelide is where the Primitivo joins the Camino Frances for the final 55 kilometers to Santiago. After days of mountain solitude, the sudden crowd of pilgrims can be disorienting -- or energizing, depending on your temperament.
The town itself has been welcoming pilgrims for centuries. The Iglesia de San Pedro dates to the 14th century and contains notable medieval frescoes, while the Iglesia de Sancti Spiritus holds a 14th-century stone crucifix considered one of the oldest in Galicia. The small Museo da Terra de Melide occupies the former Hospital del Sancti Spiritus and is worth a visit if it's open.
But Melide's real claim to fame is its pulpo. The town has been the unofficial capital of pulpo a feira since long before the camino became fashionable, and the pulperias here are the real thing -- octopus cooked in copper pots, served on wooden plates with paprika, olive oil, coarse salt, and heavy bread. A Garnacha and Ezequiel are two of the most established. Arrive at lunch and eat as the Galicians do -- standing at the bar, with a glass of Ribeiro wine and your sleeves rolled up.
From Melide the route to Santiago is shared with the Frances. The terrain is gentler, the services more frequent, and the company considerably more abundant. You've earned the easy finish.
Melide's strategic position at the junction of two major camino routes made it an important medieval town. Several pilgrim hospitals operated here, and the 14th-century stone cross near the Iglesia de San Roque is one of the oldest surviving cruceiros in Galicia. The frescoes inside San Pedro -- depicting the Assumption and other biblical scenes -- are rare survivors from the 14th century and worth seeing before the crowds make quiet contemplation impossible.
The traffic through Melide can be dangerous, particularly on market days when booths line the crowded streets and the arrows through town become difficult to spot. Arrows direct you towards a small side street through the old part of town that parallels the main road. There are many other yellow arrows that direct you towards the many albergues in town, they are often attached to adverts or are painted alongside a simple ‘A’. These can be ignored.
