SPAIN: Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela, capital of north-west Galicia province in Spain was
founded following the discovery of the remains of St James the Apostle in
the 9th century. Dominating the `old town` is the great 11th
century cathedral built of granite in French
Romanesque style infused with Baroque. The world`s biggest Botafumeiro
censer weighing 80kg when filled with charcoal and incense is
brought out on feastdays and attached by ropes to a pulley mechanism
requires four priests to operate. Tradition has
it that the use of a swinging censer began in order to perfume the basilica
when it was filled with tired and unwashed pilgrims. By
the Middle Ages, El Camino de Santiago – St James Way – had become an
important pilgrim route and a cross pollination point for all the different
European cultures. Today thousands of genuine pilgrims as well as tourists travel
the route – on foot carrying the traditional staff, by horseback and
bicycle. Depending on your starting point, and for most it is
Roncevalles in the Pyrenees, walking the 800 km route passing through
Navarra, Rioja and Castilla y Leon takes around one
month. Different types of accommodation are available in monastries,
seminaries and village guest-houses along the way. Good pilgrims are
considered to be those who have walked a solid stretch of at least 100km of the
final part of the Way and had their pilgrim records stamped. Santiago de Compostela
was proclaimed the first European Cultural itinerary by the Council of
Europe in 1987. It remains a testimony to the power of the Christian faith
among people of all social classes from all over the world.