Discover the sights of Santiago de Compostela

Santiago de Compostela was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985, considering that to its urban beauty and monumental integrity were added the deep echoes of its spiritual significance as an apostolic sanctuary and destination of the most important religious and cultural movement of the Middle Ages: the pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago.

Cathedral of Santiago

In the 9th century, Bishop Teodomiro de Iría Flavia identified a Roman temple as the tomb of the Apostle Santiago. As a result of the discovery, King Alfonso II "El Casto" ordered the erection of a modest temple around said pagan construction. The increase in pilgrimages and a certain stability after the Arab attacks led to a new construction in the year 1075, during the reign of Alfonso VI, and under the archiepiscopal direction of Diego de Peláez. The construction will continue during the archbishopric of Diego Gelmírez, and will not stop until it becomes the great temple that we can see today.

The cathedral, built in granite masonry, covered with slabs of the same material; Romanesque and with a Latin cross plan, longitudinal arm and a transept with three naves, an ambulatory at the head and a gallery that runs along the perimeter. Lateral chapels that are arranged in an orderly fashion throughout the entire temple, and have a space with its own individuality. From the Romanesque period only some of the ambulatory are preserved.

The side naves are covered with a groin vault, the central nave with a banked barrel vault and supported by transverse arches, and a clerestory with a quarter barrel.

The Da Acibechería façade is neoclassical (Ventura Rodríguez and Lois Monteagudo). The Das Platerías façade is Romanesque and a paradigm of medieval iconography. The Holy Door, baroque (year 1611), is only open during holy years. The Obradoiro (Fernando Casas y Novoa, years 1738-1750), combines stone and glass, highlighting the large window in the central body, one of the largest before the Industrial Revolution. The Obradoiro façade was declared a Historic-Artistic Monument in 1986.

El camino de Santiago

The Camino de Santiago has meant the first backbone element of the old continent.

The discovery of the tomb of the first martyred Apostle meant finding an indisputable point of reference in which the plurality of conceptions of different peoples, already Christianized, but then in need of unity, could converge.

Aware of the importance of having a relic such as the remains of Santiago el Mayor for their military interests (they needed warriors and money in their fight against the Moors), the Spanish monarchies actively collaborated in the success of the Camino Santo.

The sovereigns of Aragon, Navarra and Castilla strove to attract rich and powerful people from other countries to their domains, so they used all the means at their disposal to seduce them: exchanging gifts, marriage policy and proclamation of the favors they received. the Apostle granted if one went to visit the tomb.

The increasingly widespread belief in the miracles of Santiago caused people to begin to make a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela to obtain his grace. The first known pilgrim was Gotescalco, Bishop of Puy (year 950), together with an important retinue; Later, Raymond II, Marquis of Gothia, who would be assassinated on the way, would travel the path and, a century later, the Archbishop of Lyon would visit the tomb of the Apostle. Along with these illustrious pilgrims, believers from all walks of life walked, each time in greater numbers.

The Camino de Santiago has been inextricably linked to culture, training and information. Whatever was said, preached, recounted, sang, sculpted or painted on the Camino, always reached more people and more places. Thanks to its influence on Art and Literature, Compostela, along with Jerusalem and Rome, became the goal of Christian society, especially from the 11th to the 14th centuries.

The Camino, a phenomenon of Jacobean pilgrimage, would become a catalyst for the entire Christian society.

Cathedral Rooftops

A unique experience that, accompanied by a guide, will allow us to visit both the rooms of the Gelmírez Palace, a civil Romanesque jewel, and go up and walk through the granite roofs that cover the naves and appreciate up close the towers that look at the Obradoiro, the Berenguela, which marks the hours in the city or the so-called Cruz dos Farrapos, moved here from its original location, where pilgrims, in times past, left their old clothes and the Cabildo provided them with new ones. Or take a look inside the cathedral through the rose windows that open to the south and north and, if we're lucky, see the Botafumeiro “fly”.

The walk will offer us a totally new perspective of the squares that surround the cathedral complex and the roofs of the buildings that make up the historic center of the city, from the most imposing of San Martiño or San Paio de Antealtares, to the most modest houses, but no less rich for this, since its chimneys, which we will see everywhere, indicated the wealth of the house: The larger the house, the better the kitchen and, therefore, the less hungry people were inside.

In addition to the urban landscape, the roofs also offer the green horizons of the mountains that surround Compostela, such as Pedroso, a magnificent natural viewpoint of the region, easily accessible on foot from the Cathedral.

Portico of Glory

By Master Mateo, completed in 1188, a masterpiece of Romanesque sculpture, which takes place in a portico with three arches. In the central arch, Glory is represented, the final destination of the Just, presided over by a great risen Christ. On the left, the Jewish people waiting in the Limbo of the Just for the arrival of Christ and, on the right, the Last Judgment, to which all human beings will be subjected.

In addition, in the different pillars of the complex, the Prophets and Apostles are represented, and in the mullion, the Jesse tree and the statue of Santiago Apóstol.

Gelmirez Palace

The Palace of Archbishop Gelmírez began at the beginning of the 12th century attached to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela itself. This building had to be rebuilt, after the revolts of 1117 against Gelmírez himself. The new works would begin in 1,120.

In the 13th century (year 1260) the palace was enlarged by Archbishop Juan Arias, and the Archbishops Lope de Mendoza and Alonso de Fonseca also did the same in the 15th and 16th centuries. In the 18th century, the Romanesque façade was covered by a Baroque one, and a third floor was built. The building is T-shaped, and the first two floors are mainly of interest.

Arch of Mazarelos

Almanzor's military expedition to Compostela in 997 led Bishop Cresconio (1037-1066) to rebuild the defensive system created by Sisnando II (968). On the second defensive ring (the first one protected the Locus Sancti Iacobi) that surrounded the urban nucleus (deep moats and palisades), they built another wall with square towers and an inner circle. During the 16th and 17th centuries, important repairs and reforms were made to the defensive system.

The Arch of Mazarelos would be one of the gates that gave access to the city. The stilted round arch door has a building attached to the south side that preserves the foundations of the defensive tower that flanked the door. Both architectures are built in granite masonry.

There were also six other entry points, of which only their names have survived: Porta da Pena, do Camiño (entrance to the French Way), da Mámoa, Porta Faxeira, da Trinidade or A Mahía and the Porta de Sofrades.

San Martin Pinario Monastery

It is one of the largest constructions of this kind that exist in Spain, the set occupies about 20,000 m2. It currently houses the Major Seminary and a hotel establishment. In addition, it has a museum and a permanent exhibition, including the church with altarpieces and the choir stalls.

The construction of the church and the monastery takes more than a century, from the beginning of the church (year 1,590), until the completion of one of the interior cloisters (years 1,747).

The origins of the community are not known, but it is assumed that they are linked to the appearance of the remains of the Apostle Santiago. It is known of the existence of a primitive building in the same place, Romanesque and of which there are hardly any remains. The few architectural elements that survived were used for the foundation of the current building and can be seen in some exterior walls.

The church of San Martiño Pinario brings together elements from the late Renaissance and Baroque, very common throughout the city. The plant has a single nave, with side chapels inscribed in a rectangle. The immense central nave is covered with a barrel vault with false coffers, and the three side chapels with coffered vaults. The large ribbed dome, supported by pendentives, provides a very marked aerial sensation. Inside, the chapels stand out, made for the most part in the 18th century, as well as the three altarpieces from the same period, to which is added the splendid low choir, from the 17th century, where scenes from the life of the Virgin. The three altarpieces were designed by Fernando de Casas.

Over the years, moreover, the monks have been adding images, mostly commissioned from the sculptor José Ferreiro.

The façade of the church, which is accessed through some very beautiful baroque stairs, is structured in three vertical bodies that correspond to the internal division of the temple, and that represent a decorative profusion absent in the rest of the walls. It is covered with a multitude of figures of saints and is crowned, at the top, with the scene of San Martiño.

The Monastery is made up of two cloisters: Offices and Porter's, built in the 18th century. Its main façade stands out, designed by Fray Gabriel de las Casas, who began his works in 1697. It is made up of three bodies: Front and two side towers with a square plan. The main door is framed by four large Doric columns and, above it, a niche that bears the image of Saint Benedictine. The set ends with a sculptural group of San Martiño, breaking the cape with a poor man.

SAR Collegiate Church

Sacred art museum located in the monastic building, next to the Collegiate Church of Sar, a unique example of Romanesque art. Valuable historical pieces are kept, such as the founding parchment of the collegiate church from 1136, signed by Diego Gelmírez, as well as archaeological pieces and the old Romanesque cloister, the work of Maestro Mateo.

The tour of the museum covers 5 rooms, through which the visitor can understand the history of this Augustinian community, from its foundation as a priory to its transformation into a Collegiate Church and parish of the Archdiocese of Santiago. It also houses a small exhibition of traditional costumes and the awards won by the folkloric group “Colexiata do Sar”.

City of Culture

Currently under construction, it is a small city, a gigantic work of 141,000 m2, which is born as a future great cultural reference in Galicia.

The competition for this ambitious work was won by the American architect Peter Eisenman, who was inspired by the shape of a scallop shell to develop his project. It forms a new topography on Mount Gaias, taking as a reference the traces of the historic city of Compostela.

The set has 6 volumes that are articulated as a small-scale city, which is communicated by means of pedestrian streets. Due to its arrangement at the top of the hill, even with the modified terrain, the city necessarily becomes a magnificent view of that historic city in which it is inspired.

The work corresponds to an ambitious program of cultural spaces: newspaper library, library, museum, social services, theater and center for new technologies. All of them will be equipped with the latest technological advances in terms of cataloging, storage, display systems, etc. The project is complemented by a forest park of great scenic and environmental interest.

The shapes, which bend and warp, are endowed with great organicism. Covers that curve following an inspiration in the natural forms of great plasticity. The volume of the library, for example, is a large piece where the curve of the roof modifies the height of the volume at each point, changing the perception of the building as you go outside. It reconciles the monumental nature of its scale with a humanized design tailored to users.

The whole is clad in quartzite stone, which defines the outer and continuous skin of the complex, except for the large glass walls that will fill the buildings with light.

The architect included in the project the John Hejduk towers, initially planned for another location in the city, which now become part of the complex, in homage to its creator architect, who recently died.