Tour Destination – Santiago de Compostela – Spain

Tour Destination – Santiago de Compostela – Spain - Norman A. Rubin

Tourists today flock mainly to Spain for the sun and its favorite sandy beaches of Costa de la Luz and the Costa del Sol.. Yet Spain is more than bullfights, flamenco dancers, a run with bulls at Paloma and crowded beaches. It's a spectacular and diverse country with a deep cultural and spiritual heritage that would interest the visitor to the land. Santiago de Compostela, a World Heritage City, pilgrimage destination, cultural capital and an example of historical, diverse urban environment, which attracts thousands of pilgrims and tourists. Now let up pack our luggagage and learn about the city, and its offerings to the many visitors; and your friendly travel agent will arrange your flight and accomodations to meet your needs and pocketbook in a tour of this famous city.

Santiago at Galicia province in Northwest Spain is a Catholic Pilgrimage city, second only to Rome. According to a legend the very bones of the apostle St. James were found there. The name Compostela (field of the stars - Latin) is derived from the belief that the bones of St. James were taken from the Holy Land to Spain. The very bones were then buried where a shepherd had spotted a star and eventually a church was built over the holy site. Later the edifice was replaced by the ornate Cathedral Santiago de Compostela. Since the twelfth century when the Cathedral was built, thousands of pilgrims have their pious way to complete the 'Camino de Santiago' (The Way of St James) the pilgrimage route. Among the prominent pilgrims were Francis of Assisi, Pope Paul II, and the British author and humorist Tim Moore.

A visit (or pilgrimage) to the town would not be complete without a tour of faith to the baroque Cathedral Santiago de Copostela (St James of Compostela). No words a can aptly describe the magnificent edifice, both the exterior and interior. Its very stones speak of its history. The stain glass windows, the finely carved and ornate altars and its images in stone speak of the devotion by the faithful. Built (11th–13th cent.) in Romanesque style, the cathedral has had baroque and plateresque additions and restorations. The great Romanesque Cathedral is encased in eighteenth century splendor, but the elaborately carved Romanesque 'Portico de la Gloria' of 1188 remains a welcome the pilgrim or visitor now as in ancient times. Perhaps the chief beauty of the cathedral, however, is the 'Poftico de la Gloria' behind the Late Baroque facade. The shafts, tympana and archivolts of the three doorways which open onto the nave and aisles are a mass of strong and nervous sculpture representing the Last Judgment. The relics of St. James are housed in a silver casket below the high altar, above, which is statue presides over the Cathedral. At the front of the Baroque cathedral, a golden mollusk shell adorns the altar where a steady stream of pilgrims still queue there to kiss the shell, as another sign of their pious homage. The revered tomb of Santiago ("Saint James") is located under the Cathedral. On regular occasions the church shows its "Botafumeiro", a huge solid silver incense burner above the tomb, which is swung from the ceiling on special occasions.
The cathedral fronts on the main Plaza of the old and well-preserved city. Across the square is the Pazo de Raxoi (Raxoi's Palace), the town hall and seat of the Galician Xunta, and on the right from the cathedral steps is the Hostal de Los Reyes Católicos, founded in 1492 by the Catholic Kings, Isabela and Fernando, as a pilgrim's hospice (now a government sponsored inn).

At you visit you will learn that Santiago is a cultural city and there are many fine and interesting sites to visit during you stay. Attached to the Cathedral is the Palacio de Xelmirez where there is a museum where artifacts pertaining to the Cathedral can be seen. Also another interesting museum is 'Muse do Pobeo Galegon in the Bonaval Church and is the burial site for several important Galician figures, o Panteón dos Galegos Ilustres. The museum has a nice assortment of objects that are illustrative of Galician popular culture, much of it now a reminder of the past.

Within the old town there are many narrow winding streets full of historic buildings, which is worth a tour. And if you would have the strength and time there are exciting and scenic day excursions from Santiago up to Finisterre along the rugged 'coast of death' and south into the Rias Baixas. (Celtic legends told of a place where the souls of the dead gathered to follow the Sun across the sea. The damned souls of the unworthy not allowed to go to the 'Land of the Dead' haunted Galicia province as the 'Santa Compana.)

Santiago also has a fine University which can be seen best from an alcove in the large municipal park in the centre of the city. The University ensures a lively youthful night life thanks to its large student population.
And there is another treat in store for you when you plan your visit to Santiago depending on the time when you will be planning a visit – the fiestas. The most important fiestas in Santiago de Compostela are, without doubt, those centered on the July 25 Festival, Dםa de la Patria Galega y Dםa del Apףstol Santiago (Galicia Day and the Apostle St. James’s Day). 'http://www.galinor.es/santiago/fiestas-e.html'
The town has many fine restaurants that will cater to your needs, but avoid the ones that specially cater to pilgrims as they are usually crowded with long queues at the entrance. The town is known for "Pulpos" or cooked octopus. The local cheeses should also be sampled, as well as delicious cakes like the "Torta de Santiago". And a good choice of wine is the Albarino brand.

And then like a pilgrim you could walk a bit the ''Way of St. James" ("El Camino del Santiago'') and arrive at the cathedral and lay your hands on the pillars within and to pay homage as the pilgrims of the past and continuing to the present have done. In this way you will understand the devotion of the many pilgrims. Perhaps you could buy a souvenir of a white cockle shell, used to drink water along the pilgrimage route, a memorable reminder to an interesting visit to Santiago de Compostela. 'http://www.red2000.com/spain/santiago/index.html'

Note: The scallop shell was and still is the emblem of the pilgrimage, carried back by the proud pilgrim as proof of the successful completion of the long and arduous journey to the shrine of St James

Article Source: http://www.travelarticles.org

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