Cruz de Ferro (Iron Cross)

The "iron cross" here on Monte Irago, which is legendary for many pilgrims on the Camino Frances to Santiago de Compostela to the grave of the Apostle James the Greater, has since been replaced by a copy at the original location. The cross, which appears comparatively small due to its enormous height, is on the top of a very long tree trunk and protrudes from a constantly growing pile of stones. Many pilgrims take a stone with them on the Way of St. James and place it here. This stone symbolizes the burdens and hardships of the pilgrims (or their family members and friends at home), who symbolically cast off their worries at this point with the stone and can thus move on free of them.

Here is the highest point of the Camino Frances. Many pilgrims symbolically place a stone under the cross, often dragging it here from their homeland.

The Cruz de Ferro, or Iron Cross, is a cross on the Camino de Santiago, located between the towns of Foncebadón and Manjarín, on the Camino Frances.

It consists of a wooden pole about five feet high surmounted by an iron cross, a replica of the original preserved in the Museo de Los Caminos in Astorga.
Over the years, a mound has formed at the base. A legend says that when the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela was built, pilgrims were asked to contribute by bringing a stone. The tradition is to throw a stone brought from the pilgrim's place of origin with his or her back to the cross
to symbolize their journey.
caminoways.com/cruz-de-ferro