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Town history |
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The tale of how Santiago came to be the marvelous monumental town that it is now, is as fascinating as its majestic architectural ensembles. Its origin is shaped around the Apostle St. James, who went to this most northwestern part of Spain to convert the people to Christianity. Today, it holds the lofty title of being one of the three spiritual capitals of Christendom in the world, together with Rome and Jerusalem.
The Apostle St James was taken prisoner by Herodes Agrippa and was later tortured to death. His body was stolen by Jacob's disciples in order to be given a proper burial in a secret place in the woodland. Centuries later the hermit Pelayo was able to hear music and saw something shining coming from the wood. Because of this, the place was called, "Campus Stellae," in Latin, which means field of the star. This was later known as Compostela.
A lot of leaders paved way for the success of this town. Bishop Teodomiro initiated an investigation that led to the discovery of the tomb of the Apostle St. James. King Alphonse II declared Saint James the patron of his kingdom and had a chapel built at the place. Then, in 12th and 13th century, Pope Alexander III declared it a Holy Town, similar to that of Rome and Jerusalem. Pope Calixto II subsequently professed that in a particular Holy Year, the pilgrims of Santiago are freed of all their sins.
Ever since the year 1980, Santiago de Compostela has been the political and administrative capital of the Autonomous Community of Galicia, which is a historical community that possesses its own language, the Galician, and its own rich culture.
Through the years, its reputation has grown, attracting a lot of people towards the place. If you stay in a hotel Madrid España you can flight to visit Santiago de Compostela in a weekend, you will like it so much!.
For its population, the census counts 97,000 inhabitants. Yet, since Santiago is a University capital, with a considerably large university community, that puts the final count of the population around a rough estimate of 130,000 people.
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Despite the growing number of the population, Compostela has kept its disposition as an open city. Other than being the ultimate pilgrimage destination, it is also a first rate tourist center, with an average of 3.5 million visitors per year. Not only that, this figure also rises up to seven million during a Sacred Year. For such a small place, it sure can attract a big crowd! This is not so surprising especially since it is a meeting place for conferences, with delegates coming from different parts of the world. The city is equipped with a good communications system including an International Airport, and modern and varied hotel services to meet the challenge of catering to an international group of pilgrims and tourists.
The pilgrimage to Compostela continues to maintain a great reputation since its foundation. Now, it has become the spiritual focus of Western Europe and is a receiver of diverse cultural trends. But this has not always been the case in the past years, as it has become the victim of Norman raids in the Ría de Arousa and the invasion of the Muslims. In 997, Almanzor wrecked Galicia with his army until they arrived in Compostela, which had then been abandoned by the order of Bishop Pedro de Mezonzo. Almanzor burned down the city and the basilica to the ground, and yet, oddly enough, he respected the Apostle's sepulcher and did not touch it at all.
Beginning with the apostolic temple, reconstruction of the city was immediately undertaken. This was led by Pedro de Mezonzo. Afterward, Bishop Diego Peláez took it under his responsibility to construct the great Romanesque Cathedral which started in the year 1075, and entrusted the task to master Bernardo 'the Old.’
Experiencing developments until the 20th century, Santiago de Compostela still continues to be a culturally diverse city. It is a commercial capital with its market and traditional shops in the old town and the modern shops in the Ensanche or in the big Área Central together with Compostela shopping centers. No wonder, it is a popular meeting point for people from all over the globe and honored as the European City of Culture of the year 2000 by the Council of Ministers of Culture of the European Union.
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Santiago de Compostela > Town history
