Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela

I'm finally getting around to writing about the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. It is, after all, the reason for the Camino. Just to recap, James, along with his brother John, were two of the 12 apostles and also possible relatives of Jesus. Jesus nicknamed them "Sons of Thunder." James is allegedly buried in this cathedral. 

The story about James and the Cathedral itself are both very complicated. Here he is above as an Apostle, one of three identities he has at the Cathedral. James supposedly came to Spain to evangelize the pagans. He returned to Jerusalem and was killed by Herod in 44, the first of the apostles to be martyred. His disciples brought his body back to Spain (some versions say in a stone boat) to be buried. His grave was lost for 800 years and then discovered by a hermit, who was led there by a star. Successive churches were built on the site and pilgrims started coming. The current church was consecrated in 1211. But the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela has been a work in progress for centuries.

Here is basically what the Cathedral looks like today from its most well known side on the west, opposite the altar.

Here is the view we had. As you can see, major renovations. But this isn't what I mean about the Cathedral being a work in progress. It started out as a Romanesque Cathedral. 

Here are some of the simple, even stark, Romanesque arches and pillars. But then the Gothic and the Baroque styles came along and they were incorporated into the Cathedral.

I'm pretty sure this is Gothic. And the facade on the front of the church in the postcard above is Baroque.

Here are some other views of the outside of the Cathedral. Above is the side that faced our hotel. You can see John and Luke walking across the plaza. Each of the four sides of the cathedral has a facade with artistically important stone carvings. Each side of the Cathedral also fronts a plaza.

Our guide Pedro is in the huge Plaza del Obradoiro, getting ready to take us into the Cathedral Museum, which is in the Cathedral.

The clock tower. Are you noticing the overcast skies in these photos? For most of our time in Santiago it rained or looked like it was going to rain. The climate in Galicia is much like the northwest U.S. We were fortunate to have such sunny weather for the nine days we walked.

Here's some blue sky.

Above in the middle is St. James in the second of his identities as a pilgrim. He is flanked by his two disciples, Theodore and Athanasius, who were also buried with him.

Another view.

Above is the only facade of the Cathedral that is still partially in its original state.

These stone figures were carved by Master Mateo, the sculptor who created many of the statues and carvings in the Cathedral.

The statue of the blind-folded woman on the pedestal represents blind faith.

Moving to the interior of the Cathedral. Here is the nave. It is in the simple, austere Romanesque-style. The gold at the end is the altar. It strikes me just now as I type this, that this layout is a good metaphor for life and eternal life. More on the altar in a bit.

Some of that good Galician granite.

The third identity of St. James in the Cathedral is that of Moor (Muslim) slayer. Part of the devotion to St. James stems from the inspiration people took from him in defeating the Muslims. (What we know of as Spain was ruled by Muslims for about 700 years) This role of St. James is downplayed; in the statue above, flowers cover (not quite) the bodies of Muslims that St. James is dispatching.

Our first look at the Cathedral came several days ago when our group had Mass in the Chapel of El Pilar, one of about 15 chapels in the Cathedral. Above is the Chapel of the Christ of Burgos.

Here is the Chapel of Mondragon from 1526. It was a little disillusioning when our guide Pedro told us that nobles and others had some of the chapels built so that they could be buried there, near the greatness of St. James.

Here are some closer views of the golden, baroque altar. 

Above is the botafumeiro. At special Masses a few times a year, it is filled with incense and swung back and forth in a 180 degree arc across the transept on long ropes. This happened on Ascension Thursday while we were in Santiago de Compostela.

Above is a close up of the altar, with St. James presiding. One of the traditions of the Camino is giving St. James a hug. Steps behind the altar lead the pilgrims up into this amazing area filled with gold and other shiny things. We hug the St. James that you see above from behind, looking out over the rest of the church, and thank him for safe passage to Santiago de Compostela.

Than another set of steps takes us down below the altar where rests the remains of St. James and his two disciples. Pilgrims can kneel in front of the gate and say a prayer. 

This is all very interesting and somewhat beautiful and prayerful to me, but I am still trying to figure out if there was anything special I was supposed to learn or take away from this pilgrimage. 

Jesus Falls for the Third Time

St. Kevin Church, Glendalough, Co. Wicklow, Ireland.

In most of the churches that we visited, I took pictures of the Ninth Station of the Cross, Jesus Falls the Third Time. It is so poignant and comforting to me that Jesus, alike us in all ways but sin, fully human and fully divine, experienced hardships and struggles. Our God, who came and lived among us, truly understands our challenges and struggles.

Church of the Assumption, Rosbercon Parish, New Ross, Co Kilkenny, Ireland

St. David, Mullinarrigle, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland

St. Aidan, Tullogher, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland

St. Mary's Cathedral in Killkenny, Co. Kerry, Ireland

Carfin Pilgrimage Centre in Scotland

St. Augustine Church in Coatbridge, Scotland

Chartres Cathedral, Chartres, France

Church in St. Marie Mont, France

Basilica of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Spain

Ambasmestas

Vega del Valcare, Spain

San Martin Pinario

Cathedral de Santiago de Compostela

Of Cows and Paradors

On the tour that we had to Finisterre, our guide Reuben talked about one of Galicia's most important topics: cows. Apparently, Galicia is like the Wisconsin of Spain. According to Reuben, a town may consist of two people and 300 cows. The Galicia region produces about 60 percent of the milk in Spain. The cows eat a fermented corn mash that smells terrible but that they love. There are strict rules regarding milk production. Antibiotics are prohibited. 

Here's Reuben. He told us some funny things about the care of cows. He said that the farmers are very concerned about the well being of the cows. Happy cows produce more milk and for a longer period of time. The farmers experimented with playing music for the cows. Rock music stressed the cows out and decreased the milk production. Music that was too soft didn't help them either. But what the cows did like was pop music. Reuben said he laughed so hard when he went to a farm and "Dancing Queen" by Abba was playing for the cows. 

From the subject of cows, we will move to Santiago's fanciest and most expensive hotel, or parador, Hostal dos Reis Catolicos. Parador was a new word for me and refers to luxury hotels in Spain. Hostal dos Reis Catolicos is at the top of this list.

It was commissioned by Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand in 1486 to help care for pilgrims who has made the arduous journey to Santiago. It fronts one of the same plazas as the Cathedral. Over the years, many doctors trained at the facility.

According to Wikipedia, Hostal des Reis Catolicos is considered the oldest, continuously operating hotel in the world. Over the years, it transitioned from a place that cared for pilgrims into a parador. It is considered one of the finest hotels in the world.

The parador is constructed around several courtyards.

Above is a 16th century wood carving that was in the entrance hall.

This contribution container in the entrance of the parador has a sign above it that says, "He who gives to the poor shall not suffer poverty."

"Europe was made on the pilgrim road to Compostela."

Last Thursday as I stumbled into Santiago, I remembered passing the above quote, engraved on the sidewalk in several languages. I should get a picture of that, I thought at the time. But it was a busy time of day with lots of people walking and I was too tired anyway. Today, I walked back to find it.

I think it means that as people traveled from all over to Santiago de Compostela via different routes, they helped build up the towns and other places in Europe along the way. One such place was Tours, France. Pilgrims on the way to the shrine at St. James would also stop at the shrine of St. Martin of Tours.

As it turns out, we are staying at Hospederia San Martin Pinario, located on the left side of the building above.

Here's a closer look. The Hospederia is housed in a a former monastery, San Martin Pinario is dedicated to St. Martin of Tours (Pinario means pines; there used to be a pine forest at the foot of the monastery.) The Hospederia faces the Cathedral de Santiago, the shrine to St. James.

The building, which dates from the 16th century, and the grounds are beautiful.

We have been here for almost a week, far longer than the 18 other places we have stayed on this trip. It has been nice to lay our heads in the same spot for awhile.

I didn't check out the church part of the monastery until today. It's at the back of the building. At the top, below the cross, is a carving of St. Martin of Tours on his horse.

Here's a little bit closer of a view. One of the stories about St. Martin is that he was riding his horse and saw a beggar who didn't have much clothing. So St. Martin cut his cloak in two and gave the beggar half.

Inside the church.

The altar is baroque. You have to give those baroques an A for effort, but oh my, there's a lot going on. It's an interesting contrast to the approach of the Irish, who are not known for any great churches. It's as if they looked around at all the natural beauty and said, "We can't compete with God." 

The rotunda-like ceiling.

There were six side chapels that were pretty amazing, too. Above is St. Benedict.

At this chapel, the cherub is holding a chalice to catch the blood of Jesus.

The choir, behind the altar, is carved of wood. The lower panels depict scenes in the life of Mary.

Here is the flight into Egypt.

This painting, of Jesus riding into Jerusalem, was in the museum portion of the church. I liked all the activity in the scene.

Beautiful view from our Hospederia, where many pilgrims are staying.