CaminantesSanto Domingo de la Calzada: the cathedral with live chickens, and why
By August Frederik Kramer · Last updated 15 October 2026
A family arrives. A couple from Xanten, in Germany, walk to Santiago with their son, who is 18. They stop for the night at an inn here.
The silver cup. A girl at the inn takes a liking to the son. He turns her down, so she hides a silver cup in his bag and cries thief.
The gallows. The son is hanged for the theft. But when his parents come to the gallows, he is alive, and says Santo Domingo saved him.
The judge’s dinner. They run to the judge, who is sitting down to a roast cock and hen. “Your son is as alive as these birds on my plate,” he says.
The birds crow. The cock and hen jump up off the plate, feathered again, and crow. Today a white pair lives in the cathedral in memory of it.
The birds crowed. Today a white hen and rooster live in a Gothic henhouse inside the cathedral, a new pair every month. You reach Santo Domingo at the end of day 9 from Saint-Jean, with 556.5 km to go.
Santo Domingo on the walk
9day from Saint-Jean
2day from Logroño
556.5km to Santiago
Download the poster (PNG)Free to print and share. Please keep caminantes.co on it.
In Santo Domingo de la Calzada a white hen and rooster live inside the cathedral, for a roast pair said to have crowed on a judge’s plate. You reach the town at the end of day 9 from Saint-Jean (day 6 from Pamplona, day 2 from Logroño), with 556.5 km to go.
The miracle of the cock and the hen
The story goes like this. A couple from Xanten, in Germany, were walking to Santiago with their son of 18. At the inn in Santo Domingo a girl took a liking to him, and when he turned her down she hid a silver cup in his bag and accused him of theft. He was hanged. When his parents came to the gallows they found him alive, and he told them Santo Domingo had saved him. They ran to the judge, who was about to eat a roast cock and hen, and he laughed that their son was as alive as the birds on his plate. At that the cock and hen rose from the plate and crowed. The town still says it in one line: “Santo Domingo de la Calzada, donde cantó la gallina después de asada”, where the hen sang after it was roasted.
Portugal tells almost the same story about the rooster of Barcelos, with only a few changes.
The hen and rooster in the cathedral
In the right arm of the transept, opposite the saint’s tomb, there is a henhouse of carved and painted stone, a Gothic work from about 1460. In it live a white rooster and a white hen. Volunteers of the saint’s brotherhood bring a new pair every month, raised for it at the brotherhood’s house. The birds have been there a long time: a papal bull of Clement VI, dated 6 October 1350, granted indulgences to those who looked at “the cock and the hen that are in the church”.
Santo Domingo, the man who built the road
Domingo García was born in 1019 in Viloria de Rioja and died here in 1109. He spent his life on the pilgrims’ road: he built a bridge over the river Oja, a paved causeway, the calzada that gives the town its name, from Nájera towards Redecilla del Camino, and a hospice for pilgrims where the Casa del Santo, a pilgrim hostel, stands today. The cathedral was begun in 1158 to hold his remains.
The tower that stands apart
The cathedral’s bell tower stands on its own, apart from the church. It is about 70 m tall, the tallest tower in La Rioja, built in the 18th century by Martín de Beratúa. It stands apart for a reason: of the two towers before it that were joined to the cathedral, one was struck by lightning and the other undermined by a stream, so the builders chose firmer ground.
Where it is on the walk
On our plan of the Camino Francés the day into town is Nájera to Santo Domingo de la Calzada, 21.7 km with 370 m of climbing. It ends day 9 of 36 from Saint-Jean, day 6 from Pamplona and day 2 from Logroño. From here 556.5 km and 27 days remain to Santiago.
Know these words before your Camino. Spanish is preparation, the same as boots and stages. Try the free topic
Where the day before ends: Nájera, under its red cliffs, and the legend of the falcon and the cave.
Further on, the forest climb over the Montes de Oca: Montes de Oca, walked in pictures.
Starting in the Rioja: the Camino from Logroño, day by day. Or from Pamplona, over the Alto del Perdón: the Camino from Pamplona.
Every stage of the Francés, one by one: the stages guide.
Days and distances are from our stage plan of the Camino Francés, the same rows the Logroño and Pamplona pages print. The legend, the saint’s life and his works are from the English Wikipedia; the saying, the cathedral’s start, the Barcelos rooster and the tower from the Spanish Wikipedia on the town; the henhouse, the birds and the bull of 1350 from the Spanish Wikipedia on the cathedral. The two Wikipedia pages give the tower as 69 m and 70 m, hence “about”.
Common questions
Why are there chickens in the cathedral of Santo Domingo de la Calzada?
In memory of a miracle: a roast cock and hen are said to have jumped off a judge’s plate and crowed, to prove that a hanged pilgrim was alive and innocent. A white pair lives in a Gothic henhouse in the cathedral, a new pair every month.
What is the miracle of Santo Domingo de la Calzada?
A young pilgrim from Xanten was wrongly hanged for stealing a silver cup and found alive on the gallows. The judge said the boy was as alive as the roast birds on his plate, and the cock and hen rose and crowed.
How far is Santo Domingo de la Calzada from Santiago?
556.5 km on our track of the Camino Francés, 27 days on our stage plan.
Which day of the Camino Francés is Santo Domingo de la Calzada?
The end of day 9 from Saint-Jean, day 6 from Pamplona and day 2 from Logroño, on our stage plan. The day in is Nájera to Santo Domingo, 21.7 km.
Why does the cathedral’s tower stand apart?
Two earlier towers joined to the cathedral failed, one struck by lightning and one undermined by a stream, so the 18th-century tower was built on firmer ground, apart from the church. It is about 70 m tall.
Keep reading
Melide: where the Camino gets 13% busier
The Primitivo joins the Francés here, 52.9 km from Santiago. Send the two crowds into one path, then stop for pulpo á feira.
Muxía is only 2.2 km further than Finisterre
Both ends of the world are three days from Santiago, and a 28.2 km coastal path joins them. Pick a plan on the map: one end, or both in four days.
Leaving Villafranca del Bierzo, the hill way climbs 5.4 times as much
Two ways to Trabadelo: the valley road with 85 m of climbing, or the Pradela way over the ridge with 458 m and 2.8 km more. Walk both, and open the Door of Forgiveness.
Take it with you
Caminantes is free, works offline, and plans your stages around your own legs rather than a guidebook's.
