Santiago de Compostela
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| State Party |  Spain |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | i, ii, vi |
| Identification | #347 |
| Regionb | Europe and North America |
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Inscription History |
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| Formal Inscription: | 1985 9th Session |
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a Name as officially inscribed on the WH List |
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Santiago de Compostela (also Saint James of Compostela) is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia. Located in the northwest region of Spain in the Province of A Coruña, it was the "European City of Culture" for the year 2000. The city's cathedral is the destination of the important medieval pilgrimage route, the Way of St James (in Spanish the Camino de Santiago), which is still walked today. Pop. 92,298 (2004).
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[edit] The city
The cathedral borders 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 parador). The Obradoiro façade of the cathedral, the best known, is depicted on the Spanish euro coins of 1 cent, 2 cents, and 5 cents (€0.01, €0.02, and €0.05).
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 youthful night life. Within the old town there are many narrow winding streets full of historic buildings. The new town all around it has less character though some of the older parts of the new town have some big apartments in them.
Santiago gives its name to one of the four military orders of Spain: Compostela, Calatrava, Alcantara and Montesa.
The prevailing wind from the Atlantic and the surrounding mountains combine to give Santiago some of Europe's highest rainfall: about 66 inches annually.
[edit] The etymology of the name Compostela
The popular etymology of the name "Compostela" holds that it comes from Latin campus stellae, i.e. "field of stars", making Santiago de Compostela "St. James in the Field of Stars". This name would come from the belief that the bones of St. James were taken from the Middle East, to Spain. These bones were then buried where a shepherd had spotted a star and a church was eventually built over the bones and later replaced with the Cathedral de Santiago de Compostela.
Another etymology is Compositum, i.e. "The well founded", or Composita Tella, meaning "burial ground".
Yet another etymology derives it from "San Jacome Apostol".
[edit] Demography
| 1900 | 1930 | 1950 | 1981 | 2006 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24,120 | 38,270 | 55,553 | 82,404 | 93,458 |
| A Coruña Province Population c. 1900 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| District | population | ||
| City of Corunna | 43,971 | ||
| City of El Ferrol (Civilian Pop. Only) | 25,281 | ||
| Santiago de Compostela | 24,120 | ||
| Towns, Villages and Hamlets | 560,184 | ||
| All the Province (Total): | 653,556 | ||
| (Encyclopædia Britannica, 1911) [1] | |||
Note: The population of the City of A Coruña in 1900 was 43,971 meanwhile the population of the rest of the province including the City and Naval Station of nearby El Ferrol as well as Santiago de Compostela was 653,556. It should be noted that A Coruña miraculous growth happened during aftermaths of the Spanish Civil War at the same speed as other major Galician cities, but it was the arrival of arrival of democracy in the number of people working in the Tertiary and Quaternary sectors. Santiago de Compostela was built from 1077-1747
(Encyclopædia Britannica, 1911). [2] [3]
[edit] History of the shrine and the pilgrimage
The legend that St James found his way to the Iberian peninsula, and had preached there is one of a number of early traditions concerning the missionary activities and final resting places of the apostles of Jesus. Although the 1884 Bull of Pope Leo XIII Omnipotens Deus accepted the authenticity of the relics at Compostela, the Vatican remains uncommitted as to whether the relics are those of Saint James the Great, while continuing to promote the more general benefits of pilgrimage to the site.
According to a tradition that cannot be traced before the 12th century, the relics were said to have been discovered in 835 by Theodomir, bishop of Iria Flavia in the far northwest of the principality of Asturias. Theodomir was guided to the spot by a star, the legend affirmed, drawing upon a familiar myth-element, hence "Compostela" was given an etymology as a corruption of Campus Stellae, "Plain of Stars."
[edit] The establishment of the shrine
As suggested already, it is probably impossible to know whose bones were actually found, and precisely when and how. Perhaps it does not matter. What the history of the pilgrimage requires, but what the meager sources fail to reveal, is how the local Galician cult associated with the saint was transformed into an international cult drawing pilgrims from distant parts of the world.
The 1000 year old pilgrimage to the shrine of St James in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela is known in English as the Way of St. James and in Spanish as the Camino de Santiago. Over 100,000 pilgrims travel to the city each year from points all over Europe, and other parts of the world.
[edit] Pre-Christian legends
As the lowest-lying land on that stretch of coast, the city's site took on added significance. Legends supposed of Celtic origin made it the place where the souls of the dead gathered to follow the Sun across the sea. Those unworthy of going to the Land of the Dead haunted Galicia as the Santa Compaña.
[edit] The cathedral
- Main article: Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.
At the front of the Baroque facade of the original Romanesque cathedral, a golden mollusc shell adorns the altar. Pilgrims still queue there to kiss the shell, as another sign of homage. The cathedral preserves its original barrel-vaulted cruciform Romanesque interior. Perhaps the chief beauty of the cathedral, however, is the 12th-century Portico 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. Faint traces of colour remain. The cathedral's facade gains from forming part of an extended architectural composition on the Plaza del Obradoiro, a grand square surrounded by public buildings. The ground rises to the cathedral, which is reached by four flights of steps, flanked by statues of David and Solomon. Access to the staircase is through a set of wrought-iron gates, and in the centre, on the level of the Plaza, is the entrance to a Romanesque chapel, the Iglesia Baja ("Lower Church"), constructed under the portico and contemporary with the cathedral. To the north and south, and in a line with the west front, are dependent buildings of the 18th century, grouping well with it. Those to the south contain a light and elegant arcade to the upper windows, and serve as a screen to the late Gothic cloisters, built in 1533 by Fonseca, afterwards archbishop of Toledo. They are said to be the largest in Spain. The north side of the cathedral is in the rich Spanish Baroque style called Churrigueresque.
In the cathedral's Capilla del Relicario ("Chapel of the Reliquary") is a gold crucifix, dated 874, reportedly containing a piece of the True Cross.
While filming a television commercial in the 12th century cathedral, in March 2004, Ronaldinho broke a window.
[edit] Sister cities
[edit] See also
[edit] Books
- Natalino Russo, La via di Santiago, CDA & Vivalda
- The Pilgrimage. Paulo Coelho
[edit] External links
- The official site of the Santiago de Compostela cathedral
- Tourist related news from Santiago de Compostela
- Pilgrim forum on the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela
- Canadian Company of Pilgrims A non-profit group providing advice to pilgrims of the Way of Saint James
- Pilgrim Wiki on the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela
- The official tourist website of all Galicia, including Santiago de Compostela
- Walking the Camino de Santiago, A Guide The ultimate destination for the many pilgrims.
- Official site of the city of Santiago de Compostela
- A 20 page mini guide about the buildings and attractions of this fantastic city
| Galician cities |  |
|---|---|
| Santiago de Compostela | A Coruña | Vigo | |
| Pontevedra | Ferrol | Lugo | Ourense | |
Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín, Granada | Altamira Cave | Aranjuez Cultural Landscape | Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida | Archaeological Ensemble of Tárraco | Archaeological Site of Atapuerca | Ávila with its extra-mural Churches | Burgos Cathedral | Cáceres | Catalan Romanesque Churches of the Vall de Boí | Cathedral, Alcázar and Archivo de Indias, Seville | Cordoba | Cuenca | Doñana | El Escorial | Garajonay | Ibiza, Biodiversity and Culture | Las Médulas | Mudéjar Architecture of Aragon | Monuments of Oviedo and the Kingdom of the Asturias | Palau de la Música Catalana and Hospital de Sant Pau, Barcelona | Palmeral of Elche | Poblet Monastery | Pyrénées - Mont Perdu (w/ France) | Renaissance Monuments of Úbeda and Baeza | Rock-Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula | Roman Walls of Lugo | Route of Santiago de Compostela | Salamanca | San Cristóbal de La Laguna | San Millán Yuso and Suso Monasteries | Santa María de Guadalupe | Santiago de Compostela | Segovia and its Aqueduct | Silk Exchange in Valencia | Toledo | University and Historic Precinct of Alcalá de Henares | Vizcaya Bridge | Works of Antoni Gaudí
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