Santiago de Compostela
World Heritage Site since 1985, for centuries Santiago de Compostela has attracted visitors and pilgrims from all over the world. It is Galicia’s most cosmopolitan city, but it takes it in a matter-of-fact way, which is why from the very beginning you feel like you are a part of it.
The history of Santiago began on the 25th of July, 813, when the Bishop of Iria, Teodomiro, confirmed the discovery of the sepulchre of the Apostle Saint James in the village of San Fiz de Solovio, which would end up becoming the city of Compostela. News of the discovery spread quickly across the whole of the Christian world, threatened at that time by the Islamic invasions. A grand basilica was built over the Apostle’s sepulchre, and a continual coming and going of travellers and pilgrims was established between Santiago and the rest of Europe. Faith, culture, trade and politics converged along the Road. Santiago de Compostela and its Road became the “Root and Foundation of Europe”.
Santiago Cathedral
Declared Historic-Artistic Monument in 1986.
In the 9th century, Bishop Teodomiro of Iria Flavia identified a small Roman temple with the tomb of the Apostle St. James. As a result of this discovery, King Alfonso 2nd “The Chaste” ordered a modest church to be erected around this pagan construction. The increase in pilgrimages and a certain stability after Arab attacks led to a new construction, begun in the year 1075, during the reign of Alfonso 6th and under the direction of Archbishop Diego de Peláez. Work started on the Romanesque cathedral, continued during the period of Archbishop Diego Gelmírez, and did not stop until it became the large building we can see today.
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