After saying goodbye to Palas de Rei, you continue your Camino over rolling hills to Melide. We will pass through the tiny hamlet of San Xulian, one of the prettiest pictures you can find on the Camino, with a cruceiro, an hórreo and the small 12th-century Romanesque church of San Xulián.
Saint Xulian is another favorite on the Camino, him being the patron saint of hospitallers and hoteliers may have something to do with this. His story goes as follows. Julian, a soldier and not yet a saint, mistakenly kills his parents thinking that the two bodies he finds sleeping in his bed are his wife and a lover. However, his parents, who had been searching for him across Europe, had previously stumbled upon his home and wife by chance. His wife was overjoyed and had put his weary parents to bed before running out to find Julian. When she returned home, he then learnt that they were his parents. Full of remorse and repentance, he traveled to Rome with his wife to seek forgiveness. There, the Pope told him that to absolve his sin, he had to set up a pilgrim’s hospice to care for pilgrims on their way to Santiago. And this he did, eventually becoming Saint Julian.
Another highlight on today’s walk is the small village of Leboreiro. This village has kept its rustic old charm and it is graced by the small Romanesque church of Santa María de las Nieves.
Finally you arrive in Melide, your stop for the night. Here, you can try the famous and delicious Galician pulpo (octopus). Santiago de Compostela is getting closer!
