Santiago

The name Santiago goes back to the Apostle James (Saint James = Santiago) who went to this most northwestern part of Spain, called “Finis Terrae”, “end of the world”, by the Romans. He went there to preach and convert people to Christianity. After returning to Palestine in 44 AD, he was taken prisoner by Herodes Agrippa and tortured to death. The king forbid to bury him, but during the night Jacob’s disciples stole the body in a sarcophagus of marble and brought it, on board of a small boat. The current of the sea drove the boat to the Spanish coast, into the port of the Roman province capital, Iria Flavia. There the Apostle was buried in a secret place in a wood.

Centuries later, in 813, the hermit Pelayo was listening to music in that wood and saw something shining. Because of this, the place was called, in Latin, “Campus Stellae”, which means the field of the star, a name that was later on turned into Compostela.Bishop Teodomiro, who received notice of that event, initiated an investigation. Thus the tomb of the Apostle was discovered. King Alphonse II declared Saint James the patron of his empire and had a chapel built at that very place. It is reported that from then on Saint James did several miracles. It is even said that he fought side by side with King Ramiro I in the decisive battle against the Moors. More and more pilgrims followed the way to Santiago, “Camino de Santiago”, and the original chapel soon became the cathedral of the new settlement, Santiago de Compostela.

In 12th and 13th centuries the town had its greatest importance. Pope Alexander III declared it a Holy Town, like Rome and Jerusalem. Pope Calixto II declared that the pilgrims who went to Santiago in a Holy Year should be free of all their sins. El Año Santo (Holy Year), also known as Xacobeo is a year when the 25th of July, the day of St James falls on a Sunday.

The cathedral for children: http://www.santiagoturismo.com/a-catedral-dos-nenos (available in different languages)

http://www.santiagoturismo.com/historia (available in different languages)