Santo Domingo de la Calzada is indeed an interesting place and has at its core, connections to the pilgrimage of St James. The Cathedral is ominpresent and tells of the miracle of the hen and rooster. The story is a little ripper and goes something like this.
A family of German pilgrims were on their way to Santiago when they decided, as fate would dictate, to stop at an inn in Santo Damingo de la Calzada. The owner's daughter was a frisky minx and took a likening to the German lad & his bratwurst sausage. She propositioned him with a visit the scullery. He was on a holy pilgrim and so he declined.
The inn owner's daughter performed one of the greatest acts of jilted revenge when she slipped a silver goblet into the young lad's possessions. After a couple of hours she informed the local law enforcement agencies about the missing goblet and gave a description of the German lad. The lad is distraught when he is brought before the Mayor, who proclaims him a crook and sentences him to be hung that afternoon. Protests of innocence are ignored as he is escorted to the noose and left to swing in the mid afternoon breeze.
His grieving parents leave the town that evening as they are forbidden to cut down and bury their son. They continue on with their pilgrimage to Santiago and some months later decide to return to the town and pay their respect to their dearly, departed son.
To their utter amazement their son is still swinging from his noose and can be heard moaning. On closer inspection their son informs them that Santo Domingo had brought him back to life, and that they must go and tell the Mayor so that he can be cut down and return home with his parents.
As one can imagine, the parents bolt to the Mayor's residence and demand an audience. The Mayor who is about to sit down to a feast of roast chicken is not amused by the weird German folk and their outrageous claim. He rebukes the parents, informs them that they are lucky that they are not swinging next to their criminal son. He mocks them with his sarcasm and stated that their son was alive as the roast chickens he was about to consume. With these words the chickens exploded from the Mayor's plate, grow beaks and feathers and began to crow.
Stunned, the Mayor orders the son to be cut down. The family unite and continue home from their pilgrimage. The inn owner's daughter is crushed by an ox and the Mayor becomes the first registered vegan in Europe.
Today in Santiago Domingo, there is a saying about the town : 'Santiago Domingo of the way, where the rooster crow after being roasted.' In memory of this event a snow white cockrel and hen have been kept in an ornate Gothic hen house inside the cathedral ever since.
A family of German pilgrims were on their way to Santiago when they decided, as fate would dictate, to stop at an inn in Santo Damingo de la Calzada. The owner's daughter was a frisky minx and took a likening to the German lad & his bratwurst sausage. She propositioned him with a visit the scullery. He was on a holy pilgrim and so he declined.
The inn owner's daughter performed one of the greatest acts of jilted revenge when she slipped a silver goblet into the young lad's possessions. After a couple of hours she informed the local law enforcement agencies about the missing goblet and gave a description of the German lad. The lad is distraught when he is brought before the Mayor, who proclaims him a crook and sentences him to be hung that afternoon. Protests of innocence are ignored as he is escorted to the noose and left to swing in the mid afternoon breeze.
His grieving parents leave the town that evening as they are forbidden to cut down and bury their son. They continue on with their pilgrimage to Santiago and some months later decide to return to the town and pay their respect to their dearly, departed son.
To their utter amazement their son is still swinging from his noose and can be heard moaning. On closer inspection their son informs them that Santo Domingo had brought him back to life, and that they must go and tell the Mayor so that he can be cut down and return home with his parents.
As one can imagine, the parents bolt to the Mayor's residence and demand an audience. The Mayor who is about to sit down to a feast of roast chicken is not amused by the weird German folk and their outrageous claim. He rebukes the parents, informs them that they are lucky that they are not swinging next to their criminal son. He mocks them with his sarcasm and stated that their son was alive as the roast chickens he was about to consume. With these words the chickens exploded from the Mayor's plate, grow beaks and feathers and began to crow.
Stunned, the Mayor orders the son to be cut down. The family unite and continue home from their pilgrimage. The inn owner's daughter is crushed by an ox and the Mayor becomes the first registered vegan in Europe.
Today in Santiago Domingo, there is a saying about the town : 'Santiago Domingo of the way, where the rooster crow after being roasted.' In memory of this event a snow white cockrel and hen have been kept in an ornate Gothic hen house inside the cathedral ever since.
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