Visit Santiago De Compostela - The Legend Of The Two Marys

Santiago de Compostela is the place of legends. As the alleged final resting place of St James, a disciple of Jesus who allegedly travelled to the Iberian Peninsular in the first century to preach his teachings, millions take to the Camino de Santiago to honour his story and pay homage to his shrine.

Yet there are others who are considered legends by the good people of Santiago de Compostela which brings me to the story of the Dos Marias (Two Marys).

After my own 2018 Portuguese Camino de Santiago, I stayed on in Santiago for an extra couple of days to celebrate the feast day of St James (25th July). On the night before the feast day, I spent the evening with fellow Pilgrims on a Tapas run, enjoying the fabulous cuisine of northern Spain.

At the end of the evening, we took a stroll through the Praza do Obradoiro, the square in front of the Cathedral. It was a very special night as we were in for a treat! Santiago puts on an amazing light show to celebrate the feast day and they were testing the show to an empty square before the main event the next evening. We had the show all to ourselves.

I found myself walking through the empty streets of Santiago a little later than expected, around 3.00 am, making my way back to my lodgings and a peaceful night's sleep.

Cities are very special places during the early morning hours. With no one else in sight, the streets were mine - silent and peaceful.  Santiago showed itself to me in a very different light.

As I came out of the old town, close to Alameda Park, I suddenly became aware of two figures beckoning me in the distance. The tranquil feel of Santiago was punctured by an eerie feeling - who were these people and what did they want?

As I took a few steps forward, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.  "It's the two bloody Marys," I said. The bronze statues that grace the entrance to the park - I´d forgotten all about them even though I spent time in the city following my 2016 Camino Frances.

The two Marys (dos Marias) were legends in Santiago in the '50s and '60s. Corelia and Maruxa Fandiño would dressed in flamboyant clothes and heavy makeup, they would walk through the city around Alamada Park, usually around 2.00 pm, galavanting and flirting with students (which was definitely frowned upon - women didn't behave in that way back then). Called the Dos Marias (Two Marys) or The Two O´Clockers, they became so well known that the writer Xosé Rivadulla Corcón made a documentary about them.

Yet the story of the sisters is tragic one. They lived during the 1930s when the anarchist movement was it's height, just before the Spanish War broke out. They were members of a liberal-thinking family and some of their brothers were involved in fighting the good fight. While the brothers may have managed to escape and live in hiding during the war and the dictatorship of General Franco; the rest of the family in Santiago were regularly harassed and questioned by authorities.

Following the Civil War and the decades of Franco's dictatorship, the sisters lived in poverty. They were unable to find work due to their family's political leanings and were fortunate that their neighbours looked after them, buying them food. They even raising money to find them a new apartment when the roof of their house collapsed after a storm.

As a result of their experiences, it is believed that they both had mental health issues which may have been the reason why they acted so out of character with the students.

Both sisters passed away in the 1980s.

In 1994, the city honoured the sisters and their story by laying bronze statues in the entrance to the Park. Even in death, they continue to bring mirth to the city of Santiago.  The legend of the Do Marias lives on.