We’d arrived in Santiago and where did all the people come from. On the journey in through the suburbs we’d seen very few other walkers it was as though they’d all disappeared into the ether (had they found a shortcut to the old town and Cathedral? I wondered) only to materialise again in front of the cathedral.
We met up with our Irish companions to complete the last leg of the journey and celebrate together which we duly did with some very nice champagne courtesy of Yvonne. We were also staying in an extremely nice state run hotel called a parador. This was definitely the life, as it was pure luxury our treat following our exertions of the week. We checked in and then headed out to explore the old town and cathedral, which certainly dominates the main square, Prazo do Obradoiro. To the left is the parador or Hostal dos Reis Catholicos, a former pilgrim hostal. Opposite this is the Colegio de San Jeronimo, and the fourth side of the square is completed by the Pazo de Raxoi, headquarters of the Galician government and the local council. One imposing edifice following another, a number of smaller squares were located off this main square, then the cobbled and colonnaded streets with archways and myriad of alleyways wound their way around and through the old town. In fact it added to the atmosphere that we were walking on century old paths,and following century old of customs.
There are a number of interesting legends as to how Santiago got its name. The one that appealed to me was that a hermit in 844 was guided to the hidden burial place of St. James by a glowing field of light, the Campus Stellae or field of stars from which the name Compostela derives. There is a second that believes it originates from the Milky Way as pilgrims walking from east to west at night had a clear view of the Milky Way above them.
We decided to visit the cathedral. It appeared to be rather plain inside in comparison to the elaborate baroque decorations on the outside, but apparently this was to accomodate as many pilgrims as possible in the cathedral itself. In sharp contrast is the richly decorated gilded altar which surrounds the plain wooden statue of St James. However, we were more interested to see if the thurible (botafumeiro in spanish) or the largest incense burner in Europe was present and it was. The appearance of the thurible indicates that there will be a service probably following the pilgrims mass the following day. This involves burning incense in a symbolic ceremony . It is said as the smoke from the incense rises to the top of the cathedral so too should the prayers of rise to reach God. (There are a number of videos on youtube, however the Cathedral itself has a very dramatic video of it on their website) I have included a link to the cathedral’s website. It is quite a spectacular ceremony.
As we had been quite deciduous in having our passports stamped as we walked, we wanted to collect our certificates, known as the Compestelas. This involves quite a long wait at the pilgrim’s office but it was worth it. (Be warned be prepared to wait up to an hour and I believe its much longer during the summer months).
The next decision was as to which of the many tapas bars we’d choose to frequent and eat in later that evening and there was plenty to choose from.
Some photos of the final leg.
Ger Moroney 