Vessels from England came to A Coruña packed with pilgrims. The vessels were guided by the Tower of Hercules, a Roman lighthouse situated at the entrance of A Coruña harbour.
The route from England to A Coruña wasn´t easy, it was really dangerous because it was a long distance from Plymouth to A Coruña and with bad weather conditions.
This route was very famous during the 14th and 15th centuries. Those experiences were written by an anonymous pilgrim in the poem The Pilgrim´s Sea Voyage and Sea-Sickness. This fifteenth century poem, written in Middle English during the reign of Henry VI, provides the reader with the hard realities of medieval sea travel, referring specifically to the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. It is considered the first sea-shanty.
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The Voyage from Plymouth to A Coruña
Maritime route
Medieval Pilgrimage in A Coruña