Santiago de compostela Travel Guide

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Medieval pilgrims used to come to Santiago to absolve their sins. Even contemporary pilgrims make the trek to Spain's most famous sanctuary for a variety of reasons, not least of all the garlic cheese fries in the rectory. Europe's answer to Plymouth Rock, Santiago de Compostela is the pilgrim capital of Europe. Y2K witnessed this beautifully interesting Spanish city being lauded as a "European City of Culture," a distinction appropriately denoted on Galicia's capital. The city is most famous for its central cathedral, the Cathedral de Santiago de Compostela; it has been observed as a holy sanctuary and pilgrimage destination for thousands of years. The Camino de Santiago (The walk of St. James) is a long, meandering journey that reaches its terminus at the city's sacrosanct church. Etymologically, debate varies over the name's meaning. Unarguably though, Sant Iago, is a referential nod to Saint James. Compostella is interpreted from Latin in a variety of ways, the most poetic: (campus stellae) equating to" Saint James in a Field of Stars" or a broader, "Saint James' Well-founded Burial Ground," the mythology holding that the calcium rich remains of St. James were transported to the foundational site of the medieval church. Regardless, the city deserves a visit, so come on foot from Amsterdam to wash away your really big moral lapses, or take the bus from Madrid for lesser degrees of atonement. Modern juvenile delinquents in France and the Netherlands are sometimes given a choice between juvenile hall, or making the long pilgrimage, on foot, from Paris, through France and across Spain to the cathedral. Either way, they have plenty of time to think about stealing that pack of Mentos.

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