If you default the 100k rule... Cotolaya is here for you!

[Ultreia et Suseia!]

If for whatever reason you can't fulfill the 100k rule to get your compostela or if the pilgrim's office line is too long, don't despair!

Thanks to a tip from @mazzarina I learnt that the Convento de San Francisco de Santiago issues a similar certificate but they are not as stringent with the rules on kilometers or number of stamps per day. This certificate is called the Cotolaya.

All you have to do is go to that church (Rúa do Campiño de San Francisco 3) between the hours of 11am and 12:30pm, and 5pm and 7pm, enter the church, go to the left all the way to the end and ring the bell. There's was hardly anyone there on a day like today where ~3,100 pilgrim's got their compostela.

A Franciscan monk will open the door and issue your Cotolaya and stamp your credencial. If you do this, please don't forget to make a donation because their church needs lots of repairs. It's a modest and quiet church compared to Santiago.

The Cotolaya actually a lovely document!

Today my asthma flared up and I had to call a cab from Teo to Santiago, therefore defaulting the Compostrla rule, but I got my Cotoleya!

The Franciscans started issuing this certificate on 2014 to mark the 800th aniversary of Saint Francis' pilgrimage in 1214. The name Cotoleya comes from a coal dealer by the last name of Cotolay who lived in Monte Pedroso; it is said he hosted the Saint during his pilgrimage. Here's the full story: https://xacopedia.com/Cotolay

 

[Bala]

How nice! Congratulations on completing your Camino. And I hope your asthma has calmed.

And thanks for passing along this information. I knew they were issuing this certificate in 2014, but thought it was only offered that year. So when I arrived in Santiago in 2018 it didn't occur to me to ask about it, even though I visited the lovely church. Next time, next time... which I hope will be next year.

 

[Ultreia et Suseia!]

Yes! it's not very well known, had @mazzarina not mentioned in a random stamps comment I would have never known.

And... digging deeper into the matter, I found out there are other certifucates you can get:

1. A compostela for dogs: the Animal Protection Association of the Camino (Asociación Protectora de Animais do Camiño (APACA) created this certificate for dogs accompanying their humans, the €3 goes to helping abandoned animals. https://viajecaminodesantiago.com/en/pilgrims-useful-information/apaca/

2. Distance certificate and Welcome Certificate (very pretty document too, see below) if your here for non- religious reasons (at the same place of the regular compostela).

3. More here: https://www.spainincoming.info/camino-de-santiago-certificates/

Thank you for the wishes @Bala, I'm much better now .

 

[henrythedog]

Yes! it's not very well known, had @mazzarina not mentioned in a random stamps comment I would have never known.

And... digging deeper into the matter, I found out there are other certifucates you can get:

1. A compostela for dogs: the Animal Protection Association of the Camino (Asociación Protectora de Animais do Camiño (APACA) created this certificate for dogs accompanying their humans, the €3 goes to helping abandoned animals. https://viajecaminodesantiago.com/en/pilgrims-useful-information/apaca/

APACA offer a credencial for ‘perrogrinos’. Henry the (actual) dog’s got one. A worthy cause to which he (or I on his behalf) do donate from time to time.

It’s great to see genuinely new content. Thanks.

 

[Vacajoe]

Don’t forget the halfway certificate in Sahagún or the Padron certificate if walking the Portuguese!

 

[Ultreia et Suseia!]

APACA offer a credencial for ‘perrogrinos’. Henry the (actual) dog’s got one.

Let us see it!!! How adorable

 

[Eric P.]

Great.

Can these monks send me this Cotolaya home?

So I even do not have to go to Spain.

I guess this is called distance walking Compostela.

Thanks a lot for the tip.

 

[henrythedog]

APACA offer a credencial for ‘perrogrinos’. Henry the (actual) dog’s got one. A worthy cause to which he (or I on his behalf) do donate from time to time.

It’s great to see genuinely new content. Thanks.

 

[xin loi]

If for whatever reason you can't fulfill the 100k rule to get your compostela or if the pilgrim's office line is too long, don't despair!

Thanks to a tip from @mazzarina I learnt that the Convento de San Francisco de Santiago issues a similar certificate but they are not as stringent with the rules on kilometers or number of stamps per day. This certificate is called the Cotolaya.

All you have to do is go to that church (Rúa do Campiño de San Francisco 3) between the hours of 11am and 12:30pm, and 5pm and 7pm, enter the church, go to the left all the way to the end and ring the bell. There's was hardly anyone there on a day like today where ~3,100 pilgrim's got their compostela.

A Franciscan monk will open the door and issue your Cotolaya and stamp your credencial. If you do this, please don't forget to make a donation because their church needs lots of repairs. It's a modest and quiet church compared to Santiago.

The Cotolaya actually a lovely document!

Today my asthma flared up and I had to call a cab from Teo to Santiago, therefore defaulting the Compostrla rule, but I got my Cotoleya!

The Franciscans started issuing this certificate on 2014 to mark the 800th aniversary of Saint Francis' pilgrimage in 1214. The name Cotoleya comes from a coal dealer by the last name of Cotolay who lived in Monte Pedroso; it is said he hosted the Saint during his pilgrimage. Here's the full story: https://xacopedia.com/Cotolay

A small herd of us received these in 2014 because we heard that they were only issued every 100 years!

 

[Ultreia et Suseia!]

I love it!!! Thank you!

 

[malingerer]

APACA offer a credencial for ‘perrogrinos’. Henry the (actual) dog’s got one. A worthy cause to which he (or I on his behalf) do donate from time to time.

It’s great to see genuinely new content. Thanks.

Is there one for those of us who have been bitten on the bum by " nice doggies " ? These heathen ingrates have obviously not heard the good words from their pilgie canine brothers padding along the trail!

Amen and God speed

Samarkand.

 

[Ultreia et Suseia!]

Great.

Can these monks send me this Cotolaya home?

So I even do not have to go to Spain.

I guess this is called distance walking Compostela.

Thanks a lot for the tip.

The distance compostela is obtained at the pilgrim's office. The certificate I describe here is for the imperfect camino journey so you don't go home empty handed if you really wanted a document to mark the end your walk.

 

[Eric P.]

Great.

Can these monks send me this Cotolaya home?

So I even do not have to go to Spain.

I guess this is called distance walking Compostela.

Thanks a lot for the tip.

When I write distance walking Compostela, I just mean like distance learning.
You sit home and you get your degree...
But I guess everyone makes his own Camino.

 

[trecile]

The distance compostela is obtained at the pilgrim's office. The certificate I describe here is for the imperfect camino journey so you don't go home empty handed if you really wanted a document to mark the end your walk.

For me, the best memento of my Camino is my credential with all its stamps.

 

[Ultreia et Suseia!]

For me, the best memento of my Camino is my credential with all its stamps.

It's a great memento! Some stamps are beautiful. For me it's all the serendipitous interactions and landscapes.

 

[t2andreo]

Allow me to interject a note of fact here. The certificate of which you speak is a written Blessing of St. Francis of Assisi upon the person requesting it. It is provided on request from the Franciscan priests, in the Sacristy of the St. Francis of Assisi Basilica, in Santiago de Compostela.

This document has ABSOLUTELY NO CONNECTION WITH THE CAMINO DE SANTIAGO. It has no connection with the Pilgrim Office or the entire Compostela process. In my view, it is a nice to have document. There are no pilgrimage requirement to obtain the blessing.

In fact, I obtained one for a not-present family member, when I was working as a Pilgrim Office volunteer during the last half of August. All I did was saunter to the sacristy at a non-Mass time, introduced myself, and provided the correct spelling of the name of the person for whom I was requesting the saint's blessing. Said, done, and sealed.

Hope this clarifies the issue.

Tom

 

[henrythedog]

Allow me to interject a note of fact here. The certificate of which you speak is a written Blessing of St. Francis of Assisi upon the person requesting it. It is provided on request from the Franciscan priests, in the Sacristy of the St. Francis of Assisi Basilica, in Santiago de Compostela.

This document has ABSOLUTELY NO CONNECTION WITH THE CAMINO DE SANTIAGO. It has no connection with the Pilgrim Office or the entire Compostela process. In my view, it is a nice to have document. There are no pilgrimage requirement to obtain the blessing.

In fact, I obtained one for a not-present family member, when I was working as a Pilgrim Office volunteer during the last half of August. All I did was saunter to the sacristy at a non-Mass time, introduced myself, and provided the correct spelling of the name of the person for whom I was requesting the saint's blessing. Said, done, and sealed.

Hope this clarifies the issue.

Tom

There are various of these. I have a certificate for praying to St Fermin in Pamplona in a holy year. I specifically asked him to stop various ‘Rule 2’ activities; which he has not yet seen fit to do.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Henry's legs look much shorter on his Avatar photo compared to his picture on his credential.

 

[henrythedog]

Henry's legs look much shorter on his Avatar photo compared to his picture on his credential.

He’s actually very tall for a Labrador. Regrettably APACA used a local image for the credencial rather than ask himself to attend a photoshoot. He’s a big show-off and would like nothing more.

 

[Former member 94614]

it seems so arbitrary and ridiculous to not be able to get a Compostela if you have walked all the way from Saint Jean and only could not make the last 50 or so km, for example, due to an injury or illness. given that they only changed the rules in recent times it seems to me they are enforcing this just because of the number of tourogrinos who cheat on their way from sarria. I think something should be done about it. isn't fair and I don't think it's in the spirit of the original Compostela. ridiculous!

 

[bergmannfamily]

For me, the best memento of my Camino is my credential with all its stamps.

I fully agree with you trecile. The credential is the daily proof of the journey. I am far more proud of that than the compostela, the fisterra, or the Sahagun halfway certificate.

 

[bergmannfamily]

it seems so arbitrary and ridiculous to not be able to get a Compostela if you have walked all the way from Saint Jean and only could not make the last 50 or so km, for example, due to an injury or illness. given that they only changed the rules in recent times it seems to me they are enforcing this just because of the number of tourogrinos who cheat on their way from sarria. I think something should be done about it. isn't fair and I don't think it's in the spirit of the original Compostela. ridiculous!

I am not Catholic so maybe I can't comment on this, but in regards to people trying to deceive the pilgrim office to gain a compostela, my opinion is that God knows the truth and one day he will let them know they didn't pull the wool over his eyes and he will revoke what they deceptively gained. In regards to people who have covered at least 100 km along the way but can not make it to the end on foot, my non-Catholic opinion is that they should receive an official something, since I believe the same God knows they did what they did. For those people God will let them know that he already knows what they really accomplished, he doesn't need a note from the pilgrim office to prove it.

 

[longwayhome]

it seems so arbitrary and ridiculous to not be able to get a Compostela if you have walked all the way from Saint Jean and only could not make the last 50 or so km, for example, due to an injury or illness. given that they only changed the rules in recent times it seems to me they are enforcing this just because of the number of tourogrinos who cheat on their way from sarria. I think something should be done about it. isn't fair and I don't think it's in the spirit of the original Compostela. ridiculous!

I find the concept of “ cheating” Very interesting in this context. Cheating whom of what exactly? Whatever other pilgrims do or don’t do or whether they take home a document from the Cathedral is up to them but it doesn’t actually diminish your own efforts or reduce your own achievement in any way, does it? Nor does another’s compostela actually reduce the chance of you receiving one yourself. The Compostela itself is a personal devotional document and subject to its own set of rules. It deals only with a 100 km radius from SDC. It does not intend to be a statement of overall distance or which route is travelled. It does not speak at all to your pilgrimage , it’s duration, it’s hardships and triumphs or your reasons for doing it your own way. Your Credencial on the other hand, is your Record and proof .Once the credencial is fully electronic it would be easy to generate certificates of distance easily along any Camino between two points . This might be what some people are looking for.

 

[nycwalking]

A small herd of us received these in 2014 because we heard that they were only issued every 100 years!

I received April 2014.

Allow me to interject a note of fact here. The certificate of which you speak is a written Blessing of St. Francis of Assisi upon the person requesting it. It is provided on request from the Franciscan priests, in the Sacristy of the St. Francis of Assisi Basilica, in Santiago de Compostela.

This document has ABSOLUTELY NO CONNECTION WITH THE CAMINO DE SANTIAGO. It has no connection with the Pilgrim Office or the entire Compostela process. In my view, it is a nice to have document. There are no pilgrimage requirement to obtain the blessing.

In fact, I obtained one for a not-present family member, when I was working as a Pilgrim Office volunteer during the last half of August. All I did was saunter to the sacristy at a non-Mass time, introduced myself, and provided the correct spelling of the name of the person for whom I was requesting the saint's blessing. Said, done, and sealed.

Hope this clarifies the issue.

Tom

True.

Though it’s nice to have.

 

[Kathor1]

Allow me to interject a note of fact here. The certificate of which you speak is a written Blessing of St. Francis of Assisi upon the person requesting it.

I love notes of fact . I am not quite sure which document you refer to, however. I got curious and had a look at the text of the document that is the topic of this thread in the beginning, the so-called Cotolaya, with a photo in post #1. The text is in Latin and says:

Pax et bonum​

Sancti Francisci Conventus Compostelae​

(empty line)​

Peregrinus/a Sancti Jacobi Compostellam, sub servi Dei, Francisci Asissi protectione, aedes, quas dominus Cotolaya fundavit, ad praesentiam et permansionem Fratrum Minorum in hac urbe Metropolitana, visit.​

Translation including some additional explanations:

Peace and all good [a Franciscan greeting]​

​

Convent of Saint Francis in Santiago de Compostela​

​

[empty line to be filled with the name of the recipient of the document]​

​

The Pilgrim [who is named in the line above] to Santiago de Compostela, under the protection of Francis of Assisi, a servant of God, visited the house which Cotolaya [legendary citizen of Santiago] founded for the lasting presence of the Friars Minor [official name of the Franciscan order] in this metropolitan city [Santiago de Compostela].​

​

So this document does pretty much the same as the Compostela document does, it confirms that you visited a site in Santiago de Compostela as a pilgrim, except that it does not mention your mode of transport or travel nor any physical achievements connected to your mode of travel.

 

[Kathor1]

it seems so arbitrary and ridiculous to not be able to get a Compostela if you have walked all the way from Saint Jean and only could not make the last 50 or so km, for example, due to an injury or illness. given that they only changed the rules in recent times it seems to me they are enforcing this just because of the number of tourogrinos who cheat on their way from sarria. I think something should be done about it. isn't fair and I don't think it's in the spirit of the original Compostela. ridiculous!

This is not really the thread for rants about the Cathedral's way of dispensing Compostelas, and perhaps the moderators can transfer these posts to a separate thread. I wonder what you understand by "in recent times" and by "the spirit of the original Compostela". There is no original Compostela - documents with this name have existed since the late Middle Ages but have been changed dozens of times, both in content and in design. The original Compostelas, for many centuries, confirmed that the recipient had gone to Confession and received the Eucharist. I sometimes wonder how many of today's spiritual walkers would qualify under the "spirit" of the original Compostelas of the past seven or so centuries. Oh, and it did not matter under the original spirit where you started and how you got to Santiago.

I recommend reading Fernando Lalanda, Historia de la Compostela.

 

[Ultreia et Suseia!]

Hope this clarifies the issue.

No issue here, all good and happy for me

it seems so arbitrary and ridiculous to not be able to get a Compostela if you have walked all the way from Saint Jean and only could not make the last 50 or so km, for example, due to an injury or illness. given that they only changed the rules in recent times it seems to me they are enforcing this just because of the number of tourogrinos who cheat on their way from sarria. I think something should be done about it. isn't fair and I don't think it's in the spirit of the original Compostela. ridiculous!

Thank you so much for the sentiment; i could have cheated and not disclose I took a taxi but I'm happy with my Franciscan certificate

I am not Catholic so maybe I can't comment on this, but in regards to people trying to deceive the pilgrim office to gain a compostela, my opinion is that God knows the truth and one day he will let them know they didn't pull the wool over his eyes and he will revoke what they deceptively gained. In regards to people who have covered at least 100 km along the way but can not make it to the end on foot, my non-Catholic opinion is that they should receive an official something, since I believe the same God knows they did what they did. For those people God will let them know that he already knows what they really accomplished, he doesn't need a note from the pilgrim office to prove it.

I know how much I walked and for me that's enough, I appreciate the sentiment though

I love notes of fact . I am not quite sure which document you refer to, however. I got curious and had a look at the text of the document that is the topic of this thread in the beginning, the so-called Cotolaya, with a photo in post #1. The text is in Latin and says:

Pax et bonum​

Sancti Francisci Conventus Compostelae​

(empty line)​

Peregrinus/a Sancti Jacobi Compostellam, sub servi Dei, Francisci Asissi protectione, aedes, quas dominus Cotolaya fundavit, ad praesentiam et permansionem Fratrum Minorum in hac urbe Metropolitana, visit.​

Translation including some additional explanations:

Peace and all good [a Franciscan greeting]​

​

Convent of Saint Francis in Santiago de Compostela​

​

[empty line to be filled with the name of the recipient of the document]​

​

The Pilgrim [who is named in the line above] to Santiago de Compostela, under the protection of Francis of Assisi, a servant of God, visited the house which Cotolaya [legendary citizen of Santiago] founded for the lasting presence of the Friars Minor [official name of the Franciscan order] in this metropolitan city [Santiago de Compostela].​

​

So this document does pretty much the same as the Compostela document does, it confirms that you visited a site in Santiago de Compostela as a pilgrim, except that it does not mention your mode of transport or travel nor any physical achievements connected to your mode of travel.

Thank you for taking the time to do this research that's exactly what I felt it meant

 

[WGroleau]

Great.
Can these monks send me this Cotolaya home?
So I even do not have to go to Spain.
I guess this is called distance walking Compostela.
Thanks a lot for the tip.

As hospitalero, more than once I heard a pilgrim complaining about people who park a car out of sight, walk to a place for a sello, get back in the car and continue on.

 

[WGroleau]

I know how much I walked and for me that's enough, I appreciate the sentiment though

Same here. I have my photos and the sellos in my journal (didn't even have a credencial). Both mean more to me than a paper that says (without proof) that I did something.

 

[Thomas1962]

Ok, if anyone can give a certificate: send me an email and I will send you one. I will copy any of them and put your name on it. You just have to promise me that you walked one meter that day....

 

[Eric P.]

Ok, if anyone can give a certificate: send me an email and I will send you one. I will copy any of them and put your name on it. You just have to promise me that you walked one meter that day....

I do love your sarcastic comment.

 

[Kathor1]

Maybe some people read only the title of the thread and see only "if you default the 100 km rule" and then embark on writing their reaction ...? I am tempted to say something about the colour red and about bulls but writing about or alluding to bull fights is off limits so I won't do this ... .

The point of the first post is this: The Franciscans in Santiago issued their Cotolaya in 2014 because they celebrated the 800 years anniversary of the (supposed) travel of Saint Francis to Santiago where he (supposedly) founded a convent, like the oral tradition has it for a number of other Franciscan convents throughout Spain. At the time, it was said that the Cotolaya will be only issued in 2014.

The news that @Ultreia et Suseia! shared tells forum oldies and forum newcomers that the Cotolaya is still available in 2022. And this is what the Franciscans had to say about it initially:

...the intention of the Franciscans is to remember not only the material pilgrimage of Saint Francis, but also its transcendent significance. For this reason, during the year they issued the Cotolaya, a kind of Franciscan Compostela, to all the pilgrims who came to Santiago following in the footsteps of Saint Francis, that is to say, with a Franciscan devotion, and who visited the convent.​

​

So make no mistake, good pilgrims: It's not about the kms and the walking, it's about your devotion. It says so on your Compostela, too. In Latin.

 

[Angelo]

I had the Cotolaya as well in September 2014

 

[JesperK]

I must be honest. I simply don´t get the whole certificate thing. I do have 2 camino certificates - but the last 4 caminos - I didn´t even go to the pilgrim office.

 

[Eric P.]

As hospitalero, more than once I heard a pilgrim complaining about people who park a car out of sight, walk to a place for a sello, get back in the car and continue on.

Well known stories.

 

[Kathor1]

I must be honest. I simply don´t get the whole certificate thing.

i don’t have any certificates and I have no desire to get one. I rarely feel a need - this post is an exception - to announce that I don’t have a Compostela, Cotoyola, half way whatever it’s is called and so on. And yet, I am happy for other people to enjoy theirs, help them to find out how and where to get them and to decipher them when written in a less common foreign language

 

[Kathor1]

Well known stories.

Indeed. Well known stories and we’ve read them many times before. No need for recitals.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

He’s actually very tall for a Labrador. Regrettably APACA used a local image for the credencial rather than ask himself to attend a photoshoot. He’s a big show-off and would like nothing more.

I see Henry is now showing off his long legs in your new Avatar, and also his gigantic tongue. (Couldn't resist.)

 

[Ultreia et Suseia!]

He’s actually very tall for a Labrador. Regrettably APACA used a local image for the credencial rather than ask himself to attend a photoshoot. He’s a big show-off and would like nothing more.

I am so happy there is a credential for dogs.
One of my favourite scenes of the Tres en el Camino documentary is when the owner of Troki the dog can't understand why his little companion couldn't get a compostela even though he walked with his little furry legs all the way from Sevilla

 

[henrythedog]

I am so happy there is a credential for dogs.
One of my favourite scenes of the Tres en el Camino documentary is when the owner of Troki the dog can't understand why his little companion couldn't get a compostela even though he walked with his little furry legs all the way from Sevilla

The APACA ‘compostella’ is not accredited by the church, but Henry the (actual) dog doesn’t know about churches.

One of my compostellas is inscribed ‘in vicarie pro’ Enrique. The church don’t know he’s a dog.

 

[JesperK]

Well known stories.

Not just stories. It's fairly wellknown. As a friend said as we saw 4 pilgrims entering a town in a taxi and getting out 50 metres from an albergue "hypocrits will not enjoy the kingdom of heaven". Or my best one: We were 5 guys that had slept in the municipal in La Virgen. Granted it was hammering down with rain all day - but as we stopped to have lunch in a smaller town along the way to hospital del orbigo: We saw two full busses with pilgrims driving past our resting place. Some of us laughed - while this Italian guy got mad and phoned ahead to an albergue in Orbigo and demanded they reserved 5 beds for us who had actually walked. He was fuming with rage all the rest of the way - while the rest of us tried to calm him down. When we arrived the albergue was not even half full.

 

[Kathor1]

When we arrived the albergue was not even half full.

And what a story is : Pilgrims travel on busses in the general direction of Santiago and don't stay in municipal albergues!

Long before movies were made and blogs were written about the revival of the Camino de Santiago as a destination for long-distance foot pilgrimage, and long before this forum was created in 2004, large groups of pilgrims, usually organised by their parish, travelled by train or bus to a pilgrimage site such as Rome or Santiago or Lourdes. And they continue to do so. From towns all over Spain and also from abroad.

One of the oldest organisations in Europe who organises such trips is the Bavarian Pilgrims Office in Munich (Bayerische Pilgerbüro), founded in 1925 by Monsignore Johannes Neuhäusler who later became a bishop in Munich. The occasion was the Holy Year 1925 in Rome, and initially the office served the Catholic dioceses of Bavaria; by now of course they have expanded their target groups to the general population. They organise pilgrimage travel since 1925, and in 1994, they added Santiago to their destinations.

By definition, foot pilgrims travel on foot. That's all.

A photo of their pilgrimage buses in 1950 - a time, btw, when next to nobody walked long-distance to Santiago or Rome for that matter. Collecting sellos and making use of a generous net of cheap albergues created by local and regional government had not yet become a "must do" thing.

 

[LavanyaLea]

One of my compostellas is inscribed ‘in vicarie pro’ Enrique. The church don’t know he’s a dog

Brilliant!!! But I think Fuji is too much of a pet name to blag an “in vicarie pro” compostela

Also, on another note… it’s easy to get APACA’s credentials in towns within 100K of Santiago, but not from further out! (They have a list on their website) we are in Leon, plenty of dog friendly accommodation including the monastery albergue of St Francis Assisi but no APACA credential. I did enquire beforehand so we bought ours online and had it shipped to an address in Spain. I wonder if it’s something @ivar can look into

 

[Julie190019]

Maybe some people read only the title of the thread and see only "if you default the 100 km rule" and then embark on writing their reaction ...? I am tempted to say something about the colour red and about bulls but writing about or alluding to bull fights is off limits so I won't do this ... .

The point of the first post is this: The Franciscans in Santiago issued their Cotolaya in 2014 because they celebrated the 800 years anniversary of the (supposed) travel of Saint Francis to Santiago where he (supposedly) founded a convent, like the oral tradition has it for a number of other Franciscan convents throughout Spain. At the time, it was said that the Cotolaya will be only issued in 2014.

The news that @Ultreia et Suseia! shared tells forum oldies and forum newcomers that the Cotolaya is still available in 2022. And this is what the Franciscans had to say about it initially:

...the intention of the Franciscans is to remember not only the material pilgrimage of Saint Francis, but also its transcendent significance. For this reason, during the year they issued the Cotolaya, a kind of Franciscan Compostela, to all the pilgrims who came to Santiago following in the footsteps of Saint Francis, that is to say, with a Franciscan devotion, and who visited the convent.​

​

So make no mistake, good pilgrims: It's not about the kms and the walking, it's about your devotion. It says so on your Compostela, too. In Latin.

Dear Katharina,
I was standing in front of the closed Saint Francis door to ask for the Cotolaya. Do you know if there is any chance to get in online like the Finisteriana/Muxiana (via email)?
Thanks a lot
Julia

 

[Ultreia et Suseia!]

Dear Katharina,
I was standing in front of the closed Saint Francis door to ask for the Cotolaya. Do you know if there is any chance to get in online like the Finisteriana/Muxiana (via email)?
Thanks a lot
Julia

They don't have anything electronic, they are very poor and humble, but I hope this image helps. Please don't forget they rely on donations

 

[LavanyaLea]

Opening hours above are correct as per Oct 2022! When I attended the English mass at Pilgrims Office, Fr Manny held up a sheet of the Cotolaya at the end of the mass to inform pilgrims about the Cotolaya/St Francis Church, along with the opening hours.

Bring a nice pen if you have one, because when I went there, the priest just gave me a standard blue ballpoint pen to write my own name on my Cotolaya!