Everything about Santiago De Compostela totally explained
| time_zone =
CET (
GMT +1)
| time_zone_summer =
CEST (GMT +2)
| founded =
| postal_code = 15700
| area_code =
| website =
santiagodecompostela.org
| community = Galicia
| community_link = Galicia (Spain)
| province = A Coruña
| province_link = A Coruña (province)
| comarca = Santiago
| comarca_link = Santiago (region)
| divisions =
| neighborhoods =
| mayor = Xosé Antonio Sánchez
| political_party = PSOE
| political_party_link = Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
| area = 223
| altitude = 260
| population = 92.919
| date-population = 2007
| population-ranking =
| density = 416,68
| date-density = 2007
}}
Santiago de Compostela (also
Saint James of Compostela) is the capital of the
autonomous community of
Galicia and a
UNESCO's
World Heritage Site. 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 (
Galician:
Camiño de Santiago,
Spanish:
Camino de Santiago).
Railway and Air Communications: National & International
The city
The
cathedral borders the main Praza 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 dos Reis Católicos, founded in
1492 by the
Catholic Monarchs, Isabella of Castille and Ferdinand of Aragon, 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 first established in the
early-16th century. The main campus 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 de Compostela’s cultural aspects give way to a bustling nightlife. Divided between the new town (
la zona nueva) and the old town (
la zona vieja), one can often find a mix of middle-aged residents and younger students running throughout the city until the early hours of the morning. Radiating from the center of the city, the historic cathedral is surrounded by paved granite streets, tucked away in the old town, and separated from the newer part of the city by the largest of many parks throughout the city,
Parque Alameda. Whether in the old town or the new town, party-goers will often find themselves following their
tapas by dancing the night away.
Santiago gives its name to one of the four military orders of Spain: Santiago, 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 1,900 mm (75 inches) annually.
Demography
The etymology of the name
Compostela
The popular etymology of the name "Compostela" holds that it comes from Latin
campus stellae, for example "field of stars", making Santiago de Compostela "St. James of 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, for example "The well founded", or
Composita Tella, meaning "burial ground".
Yet another etymology derives it from "San Jacome Apostol".
History
Santiago de Compostela was founded by
Suebi people at the end of the
4th century or the beginning of the
5th century.
The legend that St James found his way to the
Iberian peninsula, and had preached there's 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 can't 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."
The establishment of the shrine
As suggested already, it's probably impossible to know whose bones were actually found, and precisely when and how. Perhaps it doesn't matter. What the history of the
pilgrimage requires, but what the meagre 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
Galician as the
Camiño de Santiago. Over 100,000 pilgrims travel to the city each year from points all over Europe, and other parts of the world. The pilgrimage has been the subject of many books and television programmes notably
Brian Sewell's
The Naked Pilgrim produced for UK's
Five.
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.
Main sights
Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela
University of Santiago de Compostela
Sister Cities
These are the official sister cities of Santiago de Compostela:
Santiago do Cacém, Portugal (1980s)
Buenos Aires, Argentina (1980s)
Qom, Iran (2000s)
Mashhad, Iran (2000s)
Santiago de Querétaro, México (2005)
Further Information
Get more info on 'Santiago De Compostela'.
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