Costa da Morte

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Costa da Morte (i.e., the Death Coast) is part of the Spanish Galician coast. The Costa da Morte extends from the villages of Muros and Noia (in Rías Baixas) to the city of A Coruña.

The Death Coast received its name because there have been so many shipwrecks along its treacherous rocky shore. Instead of being sheltered by an intricate coastline or by islands as the Rías Baixas region is, the shore of the Costa da Morte is exposed directly to the Atlantic Ocean. It is an area that has been impacted by a number of oil spills, including the spill from the Prestige in 2002.

The exterior cape region is known for anthropological, historical and geographical reasons. Its name in the Galician language is Fisterra, which descends from the pre-Roman legend which held that this area was the end of the world (Finis-terrae). The area was largely Christianized by the Catholic Church with the aid of a large flux of Christian pilgrims arriving on the Way of St. James.

The people of the area still preserve pre-Christian Celtic ritual places and pass on some of the traditional beliefs. For example, there are giant pedras de abalar (i.e., "oscillating stones"; the common term in English is rocking stone) throughout the region. These pedras de abalar were sacred Celtic locations and used in various rituals that are remembered in local culture. There is also a local legend that the wind creates wild nightmares.

Contents 1 Major Commercial and Fishing Ports 2 Geography 2.1 Locations along the The Death Coast 3 See also: 4 References

[edit] Major Commercial and Fishing Ports

• A Coruña - Major Commercial Ports - - A Coruña Province

• Malpica - Fishing Port - - A Coruña Province

• Camariñas - Fishing Port - - A Coruña Province

• Muxia - Fishing Port - - A Coruña Province

• Fisterra - Fishing Port - - A Coruña Province

[edit] Geography

The Costa da Morte includes Cape Finisterre (Spanish: Cabo Finisterre; Galician: Cabo Fisterra), a rock-bound peninsula in the uttermost west of Galicia, Spain.

Cape Finisterre is the westernmost point of Spain, though not of Continental Europe (that honour belongs to Cabo da Roca in Portugal), and its name, like that of Finistère in France, derives from Finisterrae in Latin which literally means "Land's End".

Cape Finisterre has a notable lighthouse on it and nearby is the seaside town of Fisterra.

Further north are the so-called Rías Altas^[1]

[edit] Locations along the The Death Coast

These are some of the towns, villages, hamlets and cities along the Death Coast (that is, the "Costa da Morte") including the largest port city on the Death Coast, A Coruña:

1. A Coruña
2. Ensenada do Orzán
3. Bens
4. Suevos
5. Praia de Barrañán
6. Caión
7. Praia de Baldaio
8. Punta do Razo
9. Punta Falcoeira
10. Malpica
11. Illas Sisargas
12. Barizo
13. Punta de Nariga
14. Corme
15. Balarés
16. Ria de Laxe
17. Cabo de Laxe
18. Praia de Traba
19. Camelle
20. Praia do Trece
21. Cabo Vilán
22. Camariñas
23. Muxia
24. Punta da Barca
25. Cabo Touriñán
26. Nemiña
27. Ria de Lires
28. Praia do Rostro
29. Cabo da Nave
30. Fisterra

[edit] See also:

• The Upper Rias (also "Rias altas") with its biggest City Port in Ferrol.
• The Lower Rias (also "Rias Bajas") with its biggest City Port in Vigo.
• A Costa do Marisco, Galicia (Spain)

[edit] References

1. ^ Rias are flooded river valleys which form estuaries along the coast.

edit	List of the Spanish Costas:
Costa Brava | Costa Daurada | Costa del Azahar | Costa Blanca | Costa Cálida |Costa de Granada | Costa del Sol | Costa de la Luz | a Costa do Marisco | Costa Esmeralda | Costa Verde | Costa Vasca

edit	Comarcas of Galicia
A Baixa Limia | A Barcala | A Coruña | A Fonsagrada | A Limia | A Mariña Central | A Mariña Occidental | A Mariña Oriental | A Paradanta | A Ulloa | Allariz - Maceda | Arzúa | Bergantiños | Betanzos | Caldas | Chantada | Ferrol | Fisterra | Lugo | Meira | Muros | Noia | O Baixo Miño | O Barbanza | O Carballiño | O Condado | O Deza | O Eume | O Morrazo | O Ribeiro | O Salnés | O Sar | Ordes | Ortegal | Os Ancares | Ourense | Pontevedra | Quiroga | Santiago | Sarria | Tabeirós - Terra de Montes | Terra Chá | Terra de Caldelas | Terra de Celanova | Terra de Lemos | Terra de Melide | Terra de Soneira | Terra de Trives | Valdeorras | Verín | Viana | Vigo | Xallas