Santiago de Compostela--the pilgrim city

doorway to Parador Dos Reis Catalicos

We drove into Santiago de Compostela last night, finding our parador quite easily thanks to Don’s good navigation on his iPad and Google maps.  The Parador de Dos Reis Catolicos used to be a large monastery directly adjacent to Santiago’s enormous and famous cathedral.  The location is absolutely perfect for enjoying a couple of days in this city.  You can easily walk anywhere in the historic center of Santiago from the parador.  It faces the largest and most important square, where pilgrims end their 450 mile walk to the cathedral.

cathedral under restoration

Santiago de Compostela used to be the 3^rd most important city in Christendom.  Today, thousands of pilgrims make the long walk here.  Most are wearing backpacks and carrying walking sticks.  But, there are several staying in this parador, so they are not roughing it at night.  All along the pilgrimage route are hotels and hostels that cater just to pilgrims.  As we walked back to the parador this afternoon, a group of young pilgrims was cheering as they passed under a vaulted arcade and down the steps leading to the square, ending their long journey.

restored steeple with unrestored facade

The cathedral is beautiful.  While the outside has been changed many times over the centuries, the interior has remained the same since the 11^th and 12^th centuries.  It is huge and, today, full of pilgrims gathered for the Mass.  Probably like that every day.  Many people were making their confessions to priests, all quite old, set up in confessionals along the walls of the nave.  A nun with a lovely voice started the mass, accompanied by a woman playing the enormous pipe organ.  The sound was wonderful and filled the cathedral.  Clearly, this is a very meaningful moment for the many pilgrims, many still with their backpacks on and some in tears.

Unfortunately, the cathedral’s façade is being cleaned and restored right now, so it is encased in scaffolding.  The difference between the clean and the unrestored areas is striking.

11th century nave of the cathedral

Today, we walked around the historic center of the city for several hours and will go out again later this afternoon.  I’m hoping the opera singer will be able to enjoy his singing again tonight.  In fact, as in most tourist cities, there is lots of music and many mimes.  People young and old are stationed around the tourist area playing instruments and singing or trying to keep absolutely still in their white, gold or black makeup and costumes.  The economy is so tough here that these are the only ways some of these very talented musicians can survive.

Palacio de Roxoi in main square

There is a great market near one edge of the historical city that is spotless and active, filled with fresh produce, fish, mean, spices, salted cod (bacalhao) and much more.  By mid-afternoon, most merchants have sold out and left for the day.  The center of the city is a maze of cobblestone streets and alleyways, lined with shops and countless restaurants.  They are busy since this is such an important tourist destination, but there are still too many closed stores.  As you wander, one of the pleasures is coming upon the many small squares, usually in front of churches, but some just at the junction of two cobbled alleys.  Because Santiago is also a university town,  there are students everywhere, walking to class and sitting in the many cafes you can find in almost every square.