July 20, Santiago de Compostela

The shell on this person's backpack signifies that they are a pilgrim.

Together with Rome and Jerusalem Santiago de Compostela is one of the principal pilgrim destinations in Christianity.  Why?  Well, it seems that after his beheading, the body of St. James the Apostle was transported from Palestine to the Galician coast and buried several miles inland in present day Santiago de Compostela.  Fast forward several hundred years, light from a star shines down upon a field, the bones are discovered by a shepherd, and Santiago Matamoros (St. James the Moor-Slayer) becomes the hero needed by Christian Spain in its fight against the Moors.  Soon there are hordes making the pilgrimage, for the bones of Santiago rank as the greatest relic in all of Europe.  The pilgrimage could be arduous and dangerous, but its successful completion could reduce a pilgrim's time in purgatory by half.  Pilgrimages to Santiago had nearly died out, but the latter part of the 20th century saw a great resurgence in hikers and now bikers making pilgrimages of 100 to more than 700 kilometers.

The magnificent cathedral and surrounding streets make for quite a lively scene.  This is even truer this year since it is a holy year (years where July 25 falls on a Sunday).  Pilgrims with backpacks and walking sticks abound as do street musicians and automobile pilgrims such as ourselves.  Despite the crowds in the town center we chanced upon Ryan's high school spanish teacher (Courtney Cleveland) who is earning her masters degree at La Universidad de Santiago de Compostela (USC as Ryan likes to call it).

Santiago de Compostela is the capital of Galicia.  There are 4 languages in Spain and Gallego is the native language of Galicia.  It is greatly evident on street signs and restaurant menus and to the untrained eye bears a strong resemblance to Portuguese.

Things are ramping up for the upcoming festival and as I write this at 11:30 pm there is ethereal music emanating from the direction of the cathedral and the cathedral is serving as a canvas for a light show, as seen out my hotel window.  Very cool.

Tom