Myths of Mankind

S01E12

To the End of the World

Santiago de Compostella was the ultimate goal for pilgrim in the Middle Ages... Millions walked the endless roads to Compostella, beyond which was the end of the world.,. What Mecca was for Muslims, or Jerusalem for Jews, Compostela was for Christians throughout Europe… For centuries the pilgrimage was virtually forgotten and the Camino, the ancient road to Finis Terra, lay deserted. But now, as churches grow hollow and empty, the many roads to Compostela are filling up again. Yet, as growing numbers of people take the Pilgrim’s path to Santiago, spectacular facts from its past, for centuries forgotten, are coming to light.. The Camino has a history, much more ancient than what the Church has so far revealed.. The Camino originally led pilgrims beyond the city, to where the sun dies, at the end the world: Finis Terrae, where the last promontory of land ends in the ocean without end; the Mare Tenebris, the Sea of Darkness for the ancients where the dead lingered.. Hades for the Greeks. Now, quite unexpectedly however, that ancient pilgrimage is reviving…