It’s been a work in progress since I started this series of photographs from my trip to Spain this past December but I’ve finally reached the end. Well, almost. If you’re just joining us, my daughter and I decided to embark on an eight-city driving tour of Spain that started in Madrid and commenced south to the charming city of Córdoba (check out the photographs HERE and images from the stunning Mosque-Cathedral HERE), then continued further south to Gibraltar, back northwest a bit to the coastal city of Cádiz and Jerez de la Frontera (check out the photographs HERE) and then back up north to the beautiful city of Seville (check out the first series of photographs HERE). In Seville, we visited the charming Plaza de España as well as the magnificent Seville Cathedral and the Royal Alcázar, both UNESO World Heritage Sites. From Seville, we drove up to the lovely University city of Salamanca and then further northwest to our final city (and the featured city for this post) Santiago de Compostela. So consider yourself caught up.
Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of St. James, a leading Catholic pilgrimage route since the 9th century. In 1985, the city’s Old Town was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Archaeologists have revealed that the old city of Compostela was inhabited, starting probably about 50 AD(!). The area of Santiago de Compostela was a Roman cemetery by the 4th century and was occupied by the Suebi (a large group of related Germanic tribes) in the early 5th century, when they settled in Galicia and Portugal during the initial collapse of the Roman Empire. In 585, the settlement was annexed along with the rest of Suebi Kingdom by Leovigild (a Visigothic King of Hispania and Septimania) as the sixth province of the Visigothic Kingdom.
According to medieval legend, the remains of the apostle James were brought to Galicia for burial; in 813, the light of a bright star guided a shepherd who was watching his flock at night to the burial site in Santiago de Compostela (hey, that story sounds familiar, yes?). To honor St. James, King Alfonso II of Asturias built a church over the tomb, which Alfonso III replaced by a larger structure, and during the Middle Ages the town that grew up around it became the most important Christian place of pilgrimage after Jerusalem and Rome (more on the cathedral in a future post).
Santiago de Compostela is located in the region of Galicia which was first inhabited by humans during the Middle Paleolithic period (i.e., a long freakin’ time ago!) and takes its name from the Gallaeci, the Celtic people living north of the Douro River during the last millennium BC(!). Galicia was incorporated into the Roman Empire at the end of the Cantabrian Wars in 19 BC, and was made a Roman province in the 3rd century AD. More importantly, it’s where my mother was born and where her family still live (she followed her oldest sister to NYC back in the early 60s). It is here where we decided to spend Christmas Eve and Day with our “família Galega”, our first Christmas after the loss of my wife Madelyn back in September of 2018. It was a good decision. Now, to the photographs – taken with the marvelous Fujifilm X-T3 (and a few good lenses), which I rented especially for this trip. Had to dust off my Lumix GH4 for a few wide angle shots (alas, the ultra-wide Fujifilm XF 8-16mm f/2.8 wasn’t available yet for rental). Enjoy!
I snapped this photograph of a group of pilgrims who had just arrived at the cathedral our very first morning in Santiago. The 1,000-year-old pilgrimage to the shrine of St. James in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela is known in English as the Way of St. James and in Spanish as the Camino de Santiago. Over 100,000 pilgrims travel to the city each year from points all over Europe and other parts of the world.
The bagpipe dates back to 1,000 B.C. and many historians believe that Irish and Scottish bagpipes may have descended from Galicia (it’s a rather heated debate in some circles). What cannot be disputed, however, is that the bagpipe (called “gaita” in Galicia) has been present in Galician iconography since the medieval ages and has accompanied Galician music ever since. Bagpipers (“gaiteros”) can be seen daily outside the cathedral.
In the Praza do Obradoiro, the main square of the Santiago de Compostela Old Town, you’ll find the Pazo de Raxoi (Raxoi Palace), Completed in 1766, across from the cathedral. Originally it was used as a seminary for confessors, but today it is the site of City Hall and the Galician government.
At Praza do Obradoiro’s south end stands the Colegio de San Xerome, a former college for the poor that is now the rectorate of Santiago University. Erected in the 16th century, its stunning Romanesque-Gothic entrance depicts the figures of St. Dominic, St. John the Evangelist, St. James, St. Peter, St. Paul and St. Francis of Assisi and, on the tympanum, Our Lady with Baby Jesus.
Parque Alameda
On the border of the historic Old Town, the Parque de la Alameda (Alameda Park) offers a great view of the cathedral from the Paseo da Ferradura…
My daughter and I taking five on the sculpture of a seated Ramón María del Valle-Inclán, Spanish dramatist, novelist, poet and member of the Generación del 98 (Generation of ’98), a group of novelists, poets, essayists, and philosophers active in Spain at the time of the Spanish–American War (1898) committed to cultural and aesthetic renewal, and associated with modernism. The sculpture, on display in the the Paseo da Ferradura at the Parque de la Alameda, was unveiled in 1999 and was cast in bronze by sculptor César Lombera.
A family poses for a photograph with ‘As Duas Marias’ (The Two Marias), replicas of the Spanish sisters Maruxa and Coralia Fandiño Ricart, in the Parque de la Alameda. Born in the early twentieth century, the sisters were two of thirteen children of a cobbler and a seamstress on Espíritu Santo street, north of the historic center. The two sisters became popular characters of the city during the fifties and sixties because they made a daily walk through the old town of Compostela at two o’clock in the afternoon dressed and made up in an eccentric manner and flirted with young university students. But there’s more to the story than most people are aware of…
Three of Maruxa and Coralia’s brothers were anarchist militants and after the outbreak of the Civil War in July of 1936, the brothers managed to escape and live in hiding during the dictatorship of General Franco. The Political-Social Brigade (the secret police that existed in Spain during the dictatorship of Franco) tried to use the family to find out their whereabouts. At odd hours of the night, the Police would arrive to search the Fandiño house. On numerous occasions the sisters were publicly humiliated by being sent naked onto the streets. Henrique Rivadulla Corcón, author of a documentary about the sisters in 2008, stated, “It is not proven, but there are people who say they were tortured and even raped.”
Finally the brothers were arrested and imprisoned and the pressure on the Fandiño family ceased but the trauma from the abuse and humiliation were the cause of the eccentric character that made both sisters popular; many believed they suffered from mental illness. Without work or support, they fell into a poverty but lived on the charity of the local residents. The statues were laid by sculptor César Lombera in 1994 in memory of the two women.
Parque de la Alameda
Galician Centre of Contemporary Art
Being the art lovers that we are, we paid a visit to the Galician Centre of Contemporary Art (CGAC). The centre has promise but was a bit of a disappointment due to the waste of what is a rather nice space. Too many plain walls, not enough art. It featured an exhibition by Julião Sarmento, a Portuguese multimedia artist and painter.
Museo do Pobo Galego (Museum of Galician People) was created in 1976 with the objectives of research and the preservation, dissemination, defence and promotion of Galician culture in all areas. The museum is housed inside the Convent of São Domingos de Bonaval which dates back to the thirteenth century. We didn’t have time to stop in but we did visit the museum back when we took our first family trip to Galicia in 2011. It’s well worth the visit, especially for the triple helical staircase designed by Galician baroque architect Dominic of Andrade (1639-1712)
{The photograph of the staircase was taken with my Lumix GH2, my very first DSLR, during our trip to Galicia in 2011}
Statue of Eugenio Montero Ríos, former Prime Minister and a leading member of the Spanish Liberal Party, by Spanish sculptor Mariano Benlliure (1862-1947)
Santiago de Compostela’s Old Town is lined with many narrow streets…
Santiago’s old town is also lined with several smaller churches, like the Igrexa de San Bieito do Campo (Church of San Bieito do Campo) which dates back to the 12th century and reconstructed in the 18th century by Galician architect Melchor de Prado y Mariño.
Our next stop was just a walk down the street from our hotel, the lovely Hotel Gastronómico San Miguel, located right in the historic center of Santiago de Compostela…
Monasterio e Iglesia de San Martiño Pinario
The monastery of San Martiño Pinario is a Benedictine monastery which was originally built around the year 899 and later replaced by another monastery whose church was consecrated in 1102. It is the second largest monastery in Spain after San Lorenzo de El Escorial in Madrid. Little remains of the original medieval buildings, as the monastery has been largely rebuilt since the sixteenth century. Three of the foremost artists of the time, Peña y Toro, Melchor de Velasco and Domingo de Andrade, all worked on the decoration. The buildings currently house a seminary (also shot this photograph with my Lumix GH4 and Tokina 11-16 f/2.8).
The adjoining church, completed in 1652, is the work of Matthew Lopez and Gonzalez de Araújo and opens onto the square that bears the name of the monastery (Lumix GH4 and Tokina 11-16 f/2.8)
Inside the church, the stunning main altarpiece is decorated in gold leaf, with salomonic columns, scrolls, pearls, and acanthus leaves…
One of the lateral altarpieces, this one dedicated to Saint Benedict (also shot this photograph with my Lumix GH4 and Tokina 11-16 f/2.8)
The choir stalls was realized by Galician sculptor Mateo de Prado between 1639 and 1647…
Capilla de Nuestra Señora del Socorro (1739-1746) by Fernando de Casas Novoa, a Spanish architect who was the chief representative of Baroque architecture in Galicia…
Capilla de Santa Escolástica (1773-1777) by Fray Plácido Camiña y Miguel Ferro Caaveiro…
The church currently houses a museum of religious art. The permanent exhibition consists of 12 rooms distributed in several floors with collections of paintings, sculptures, archaeological remains, bibliographical collections and more.
The Old Town At Night
In the “Plaza de las Platerias” (Silversmith’s Square) you’ll find the Fuente de los Caballos (Fountain of the Horses) sculpted by Juan Pernas in 1825
Hammer dulcimer and guitar by musicians Outra Olleda
Street musicians jamming into the evening…
The Plaza de Cervantes is located in the northern part of the historic center was one of the main meeting places of the inhabitants of Santiago de Compostela in medieval times. The person in charge of its construction was prolific Galician architect Domingo de Andrade. At the end of the 19th century, the name of the square was changed from “Plaza del Campo” to its current name, dedicated to the illustrious writer of Don Quixote and a reminder of his Galician ancestry.
Returning to the Praza do Obradoiro, here’s a look at the Pazo de Raxoi (Raxoi Palace) at night…
Christmas carousel in the Praza do Obradoiro across from the cathedral…
Walking back to our hotel after a busy day of sightseeing.
Family Time
Good times with “mi familia Gallega”
Oh, and we would never ever think of leaving Galicia without having some Pulpo a la Gallega (Galician-style octopus), a traditional dish from the region (photo taken by my cousin Fernando)
That wraps up our first series of photographs from our stay in the historic Old Town of Santiago de Compostela. We’ll take a look inside the cathedral in our next post – SUBSCRIBE HERE so you won’t have to live with regret. You won’t be sorry. Promise.
Special thanks to the folks at Fujifilm for the great rental price on the Fujifilm X-T3. This is a wonderful camera for traveling. Light, comfortable to hold, great in low light and armed with a truly remarkable phase detection autofocus area with with over 2,000,000 phase detection pixels that cover the entire frame (trust me, that’s pretty impressive). Besides the camera, I had the 16-55 f/2.8, 56mm f/1.2, 16mm f/1.4, and 50-140mm f/2.8 lenses. Also grateful for my Lowepro SlingShot 102 Camera Bag which has been my faithful companion for the past 7+ years, and the Joby GorillaPod 3K Flexible Mini-Tripod.I also gotta tip my hat to my KEEN® shoes (I have the Finlay Oxfords). I mean, walking on cobblestone streets all day is tough on your feet. I had brought along a pair of Skechers Memory Foam Shoes as well as my Adidas Cloudfoam sneakers. Neither of them even came close to my KEEN® shoes as far as comfort. If you plan to walk around Europe’s rough cobblestone streets, these shoes won’t let you down. Nuff said.
Like what you see? Photographs are available in all shapes and sizes on my SmugMug page. From simple paper prints to wall art, desk art, keepsakes (magnets, mugs, mousepads, etc) and even phone cases. Browse the collection by clicking the image below…
