Santo Domingo de la Calzada: the Miracle of the Hen

Santo Domingo de la Calzada: the Miracle of the Hen

Santo Domingo de la Calzada is a town of around 6,700 people in La Rioja, 561km from Santiago de Compostela on the Camino Francés. It is known for the miracle of the hen, a medieval legend in which a roasted cockerel and hen stood up on the plate and crowed to prove a pilgrim’s innocence. A live cock and hen are still kept inside the cathedral today, in a Gothic henhouse dating from the 15th century.

Where Santo Domingo de la Calzada sits on the Camino

The town falls on the third section of the French Way. Most pilgrims arrive from Nájera, around 21km away, and continue the next day to Belorado, roughly 22km further on. You can see exactly where it falls on our map of the Camino Francés.

From here, Santiago is 561km ahead — a little over half way if you set out from St Jean Pied de Port. For the full picture of what lies ahead, see how far the Camino is from St Jean to Santiago.

Santo Domingo is comfortably reached on the Camino Francés from Logroño, which begins in the heart of La Rioja, or on the longer stretch from Pamplona. If you are still deciding where to begin, our guide to the best starting points on the Camino Francés compares them all.

Who was Saint Dominic

The town takes its name from Saint Dominic — Santo Domingo de la Calzada means Saint Dominic of the Road. He died in 1109 after a life spent improving conditions for pilgrims walking the Camino de Santiago, building hospitals, roads and bridges along the Way. The cathedral holding his remains was begun in 1158.

The miracle of the hen: The legend

A German family stopped in Santo Domingo de la Calzada on their way to Santiago de Compostela. Their son rejected the advances of the innkeeper’s daughter, who took her revenge by hiding a silver cup in his bag. He was accused of theft and condemned to hang.

Returning from Santiago, his parents came back to say goodbye and found him still alive on the gallows, held up, it was said, by Saint Dominic himself, who knew the boy was innocent.

They ran to the Corregidor, the town sheriff, who was sitting down to dinner. He replied that their son was as alive as the roasted cockerel and hen on his plate. As he said it, both birds stood up, grew back their white feathers and began to crow.

Santo Domingo de la Calzada, donde cantó la gallina después de asada.
Santo Domingo de la Calzada, where the hen sang after being roasted.

The Camino Francés is full of stories like this one. Further east in Navarre you will pass the Puente de la Rabia and its own legend, and in Galicia the route runs past the oldest cruceiro in Galicia at Melide.

The live cock and hen in the cathedral

This is what makes the town unlike anywhere else on the Way. A live white cock and hen are kept inside the cathedral, in an ornate Gothic henhouse built into the wall in the 15th century. The birds are changed regularly and cared for by local families in rotation.

Pilgrims stop to listen. Hearing the cock crow inside the cathedral is said to bring good luck on the road ahead, which is why many walkers time their visit for the middle of the day, when the birds are most active.

It earns its place among the 10 things to see on the Camino Francés, alongside landmarks such as the Cruz de Ferro and O Cebreiro.

What else to see in Santo Domingo

• The cathedral of El Salvador — the tomb of Saint Dominic, a plateresque choir from the 1520s and a Jesse Tree carved into the pilasters
• The detached bell tower, standing apart from the cathedral itself
• Two Paradors — one a former pilgrims’ hospital, the other a former convent
• The medieval old town, with an unusually high concentration of monuments for a town this size

La Rioja: wine, food and the days either side

Santo Domingo sits in the Rioja wine region, and this stretch of the Camino is as much about the table as the trail. If you are walking in September, the wine harvest celebrations in Logroño are worth planning around.

For what to order along the way, see our guide to food on the Camino Francés. Heading west, the route continues towards Burgos and its cathedral, and later León.

Not sure it is for you? Read how difficult the Camino Francés really is, or compare it with the coastal alternative in Camino Francés or Camino del Norte. Families can also walk this route — see family walking on the Camino Francés.

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