SPAIN | Santiago de Compostela, Spain Travel Guide
Sunday, May 5, 2024
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La Catedral de Santiago De Compostela
Plaza Do Obradoiro, s/n 15704,
Santiago de Compostela
Galicia
Spain
34 981 560 527
Type: Religious Site
Addmission Fee: €5
Hours: Jan-Sep, open Mon-Sun 10am-2pm and 4pm-8pm; Oct-May, Mon-Sat 10am-1:30pm and 4pm-7pm
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Santiago de Compostela
Galicia
Spain
34 981 560 527
Type: Religious Site
Addmission Fee: €5
Hours: Jan-Sep, open Mon-Sun 10am-2pm and 4pm-8pm; Oct-May, Mon-Sat 10am-1:30pm and 4pm-7pm
Comments ( 0 )
Rating (0 Votes)
On the 25th of July, 813, the sepulcher of the Apostle St. James was discovered near this site in the village of San Fiz de Solovio. King Alfonso II promptly ordered a monastery built to honor the saint who had been beheaded in 44 AD in Palestine. With the spread of the news and the ongoing battles with the Moors, Santiago de Compostelo soon became a rallying point for Christianity in Spain and well beyond. Under Alfonso III, a grandiose basilica replaced the modest monastery, only to be destroyed when the Moorish ruler Almanzor sacked the town in 997.
The Baroque shell of the Catedral that stands today conceals much of the original Romanesque exterior begun in 1075; for the most part, the interior maintains its Romanesque design. The main entrance is off the Praza do Obradoiro through the Pórtico de la Gloria, left, a mind-boggling Romanesque jewel sculpted by Maestro Mateo in 1188. The portal is highlighted by a large archway divided by a mullion and flanked by two smaller archways, together bearing 200 realistically carved biblical figures.
Beneath the central arch is the largest sculpture–that of Christ with the four evangelists seated in twos on either side of Him. Equally compelling are the 24 old men of the Apocalypse that seem to defy gravity as they play instruments side-by-side along the arc above Christ. In the center mullion, just beneath Christ, is the Apostle St. James. Beneath the Apostle, look for the worn area that is ritually touched by pilgrims prior to entering the Catedral.
The side arches depict prophets and scenes from the Old Testament on the left and monsters dining on sinners in a rendition of the Last Judgment on the right. On the back side of the mullion, take note of the so-called Santo dos Croques (Saint of the Bumps), a stone rendition of Maestro Mateo said to bestow wisdom on any who bump their heads against it.
The central nave, with its vaulted Romanesque ceiling looking as old as it should, leads directly to the garish but nonetheless astoundingly ornamented Baroque main altar; before this dizzying array of golden filigree and cherubs topped by the sculpture of St. James the Moor Slayer the fantastical botafumeiro hangs a giant censer 1½ meters (five feet) high and weighing 50 kilograms (110 lbs). During special ceremonies eight men known as Tiraboleiros are required to swing it in a great arc across the transept, showering the Catedral with incense and glowing embers.
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