Category: Santiago de Compostela

Everything you need to know about the wonderful Medieval City of Santiago de Compostela where the Apostle Saint James rests at the end of the Camino de Santiago

Pilgrims Rituals in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela

Like millions before you over the centuries, you finally accomplished the Camino de Santiago and reached the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. For 1000, pilgrims reaching Santiago have accomplished various Rituals, which we would like to detail in this article.

The Cathedral of Santiago

The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela is a masterpiece of Romanesque and Baroque art. It is the support and main attraction to the City of Santiago de Compostela which was built around it. It is the resting place of the Apostle Saint James and its historical and spiritual importance for the building of Spain and Christianity as we know it is huge.

Cathedral of SAntiago de Compostela

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The story of his eminence the Archbishop Don Diego Xelmírez the Salva Regina of Santiago de Compostela

When learning about the History of Santiago de Compostela there is one man that regularly comes up as the saviour, historian, architect and politician that made this city possible. We are of course talking about Diego Gelmírez or Xelmírez (Latin Didacus Gelmirici) (ca 1069 – ca 1149) who was the second bishop (from 1100) and the first archbishop (from 1120) of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela.

Medieval miniature from the monastery of Toxos Outus representing Diego Gelmírez ordering the two new riders into his entourage
Medieval miniature from the monastery of Toxos Outus representing Diego Gelmírez ordering the two new riders into his entourage

He is a prominent figure in the history of Galicia and an important historiographer of the Iberia of his day. Diego involved himself in many quarrels, ecclesiastical and secular, which were recounted in the Historia Compostelana, which covered his episcopacy from 1100 to 1139 and serves as a sort of gesta of the bishop’s life.

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The Marias – las dos en punto

At the entrance of the Alameda Gardens, you will come across an unusual statue that is of two women dressed in a rather eccentric way and with most peculiar features. There are the famous Marias or “las dos en punt” (two o’clock on the dot), two much loved characters of Santiago de Compostela.