Trifter

Santiago de Compostella is an intriguing town that is on my list of places to visit. 

This town lies in the North Western corner of Spain within the province of Gallacia.  Gallacia is famous for its seafood, some people call it the Spanish seafood Riviera.  Santiago is famous as a centre of pilgrimage.  The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostella contains the Holy Relics of St James.  In the Roman Catholic world it is considered the third most holy town in Christendom, second only to Jerusalem and Rome.

Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. The North Face. Source: Wikipedia

St James was one of the apostles.  According to legend, he came from the Holy Land to preach the Christian mission in Spain. When he returned to Judea he was put to death as a martyr on the order of Herod Agrippa in AD 44.  This Herod was the grandson of the Herod found in the birth of Jesus story.  St James might have been the Jesus’ cousin, his mother, the sister of Mary, but this is speculation.  

The legend states that St James was decapitated in Jerusalem with a sword  by Herod himself. His body was attended by angels and placed in a rudderless unattended boat.  This boat miraculously drifted through the straits of Gibraltar and came to rest on the Galacian coast at Iria Flavia.  There a great rock engulfed his relics which were later taken to Santiago.

Theodomir, the bishop of Iria Flavia rediscovered the relics in AD 814. The legend claims that he was guided to the spot by a star, which brings us to the name, Santiago de Compostela.  Compostela might be a corruption of Campus Stellae, the Plain of Stars. 

A few years later, in AD 844, St James miraculously appeared at the Battle of Clavijo.  He defended Spain against the Moor’s. This scene is often depicted in Art.

The Legendary Battle of Clavijo in Which Asturian King Ramiro I Defeated the Muslimsby Corrado Giaquinto. Source: Wikipedia.

Thus St James the Moorslayer was given by God to Spain as patron and protector.  Santiago y cierra España(”St James and strike for Spain”) is the traditional battle cry of Spanish armies in the field.

The shrine of St James at Santiago rapidly became a centre for pilgrimage.  King Alfonso II was the first pilgrim. He ordered that a church be built at Santiago.  By the time that the second church was destroyed by the Moors in AD 997, the pilgrimage was famous across Europe. In England it was known as the Way of St James.

One explaination for the growth of Santiago as a centre for pilgrimage is that the Pope forbade Spaniards from pilgrimage to thre Holy Land until the Moors were cleared from Spain.  The devout Spaniards needed a centre of piligrame of their own.

Work on the current cathedral began in AD 1075 when the local see was removed from Iria Flavia to Santiago. The plan copied that of St Sernin in Toulouse.  At the time when relics were found at Santiago, Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Emperor donated a quantity of relics to St Sernin.   As a result, St Sernin was often used as a starting point for the pilgrimage to Santiago.  The cathedral was consecrated in 1128.  It was embellished and expanded between the 16th and the 18th century.

The cathedral is monumental.  It is 97 m long and 22 m high.  It is the largest Romanesque church in Spain and one of the largest in Europe.

The 12th century Portico da Gloria, one of the glories of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. Source: Wikipedia

Final destination of the Pilgrimage. The relics of St James. Source: Wikipedia

As an addition to this rich history, the town is said to have a substantial night life.  The town has growth rapidly in recent years and has substantial modern suburbs.