La Coquille

These large shells, which have given rise to many legends, abounded on the Galician beaches of Padron and Cape Finisterre, often reached as an appendix to the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. In Compostela itself, the pilgrims could also obtain these “signs” – signs or insignia – in their natural state or reproduced in lead. In particular, they were attached to the raised edges of the large hat, to the leather mantelet covering the shoulders, and to the pouch or escarcelle. The shell escutcheon adorning the chimney of one of the old houses in Saint-Léger-lès-Melle (Deux-Sèvres), a former inn on the “chemin de Saint-Jacques ou des pèlerins” to Paris, is the only one we know of where the shells are pierced with two holes. For many, this emblem was a kind of pass to enter Paradise.

Indeed, many pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela were keen to take their shells with them to the grave. During excavations or other works, ancient tombs are sometimes discovered whose origin leaves no doubt: among the bones is the famous shell. In the Drôme, near the remains of a pilgrims’ hospice, the graves of three pilgrims wearing the shell around their necks have been found; in Moissac, in an ancient cemetery, shells have been found with the remains of pilgrims who had completed their return journey at this stopover; Also in Aurillac, during excavations in the church, beautiful shells adorned with decorative lead motifs were found in tombs; in Nice, a shell pierced with four holes to enable it to be attached to a chain was found among the bones under the paving of a chapel. And there are many more places where pilgrims’ graves with shells have been discovered.