Camino Day 19, 20: Santiago de Compostela

Days 19, 20: Rest Days

We’ve had a great time exploring the city of Santiago de Compostela. On our first day we rested, dried out, did lots of laundry, and ate pizza! We walked around the town and made it to the official end of the Camino, the Cathedral de Santiago de Compostela. We witnessed lots of reunions and were grateful to be among the pilgrims that made it to the city. We went to the Tourism office and got our Compostelas and certificates for completing the Camino.

Today, we went on a city tour with Walkin and Eatin in Galicia, led by an amazing guide, Marirachel. We learned about the Celtic roots of Galicia and how this culture is steeped in its founding, music, architecture, language, and foods of the city. We heard bag pipes while entering the Cathedral plaza and were told during the tour that it was typical Galacian music. There we so many stories shared about how Santiago came to be the holy city. St. James, one of the 12 apostles, was sent to this area by Jesus, his cousin, to spread his word and teachings. Ultimately James was killed in Jerusalem under Herod’s order in 44AD order while he was visiting Mary, his aunt, in Jerusalem. St. James remains were recovered by St. James’ followers, Theodoro and Athenacious, and brought back to Spain by boat and hidden in a forest under a cover of secrecy so he could be buried. Later in the 12th century King Alphonso, the first king of Galicia verified that the remains of St. James were found and the city became known as Santiago de Compostela. The name Santiago is Spanish for St. James. Compo- is taken to mean campo, the Spanish word for field or countryside, and -estela is understood to mean estrella, or star, in Spanish. When combined, the name Santiago de Compostela means “St. James in the field of the stars” which is pretty lovely term for a resting place.

The Camino de Santiago, the name given to the pilgrimage we’ve been walking over these past weeks is the “Way of St. James” and follows St. James’ path home. All the different Caminos converge in Santiago into the center of the Cathedral courtyard (you can see the sidewalk lines on the ground). For hundreds of years, pilgrims would find their way here, sometimes after walking for a year, bathe in the fountain, and walk into the cathedral to confess sins and pray. Today, pilgrims come for religious and spiritual reasons, to be in nature, to be together as a global community, for contemplation, for freedom from life’s stresses, for help in making a big decision, to overcome tragedy, you name it.

While in town, we’ve also visited the Museo de Peregrinos that provides more context and history about the pilgrimage to Santiago. We were captivated by the history, and by 2 exhibits in particular.

There are several Camino guides that have been written over time., but the one that caught our attention was one completed fairly recently from 1983-1986 by a pilgrim from Japan that is handwritten and illustrated with watercolor. It is simply stunning!

The other exhibit that we liked was the “A Luz do Camiño”, a small project done by pilgrims during the pandemic to keep the spirit of the Camino spirit alive and pay tribute to victims of Covid 19. A small group of Spaniards walked this backpack in relay style, so as not to cross over any boundaries or break any legal restrictions, and it carried messages of hope, pictures of loved ones who had succumbed to covid-19, and the Camino scallop shells and other symbols.

We also found a lovely park today which reminded us of our favorite park in Baltimore, Patterson Park. It is called the Parque de las Alameda and has an entrance with column bookends and a canopy of trees to welcome you as you walk further along the hill. It was also the site of an interesting eye-catching statue of “As Duas Marias”, the 2 Marys, that immortalizes 2 Galician women who lost their entire family during Franco’s reign. They were questioned many times about the whereabouts of their dissenting family members, were tortured and lived a life of hard labor. As they aged, they became more colorful and were symbols of survival and hope for the city. They are well known Galicians and depicted in paintings, gift shop statutes and trinkets in the old city.

We have really enjoyed learning about Santiago de Compostela but we do miss walking. Tomorrow, we’ll leave Santiago by bus to head to nearby Muxia along the coast and will walk the 30km to Finesterre, the “end of the world” over the next 2 days.