The ultimate destination of all routes of the Camino de Santiago is the Santiago de Compostela Archcathedral Basilica, which is a magnificent church at the heart of the old section of the city and according to legend is home to the remains of the Apostle James. While I arrived in Santiago and saw the outside of the Archcathedral on Saturday, I went back on Sunday to see and tour the interior. It was well worth my time.
Though after the legendary rediscover of the remains in or around 814 CE a number of successive chapels were constructed, each was destroyed mostly by Muslim invaders. Construction of the present cathedral began in 1075 CE. It is constructed mostly of granite with the final stone being laid in 1122 CE, though many renovations and additions have occurred over the centuries.
It's built according to the same plan as the monastic brick church of Saint Sernin in Toulouse, which is widely considered to be the greatest Romanesque edifice in all of France. Even from those early days it was a place of growing importance as a pilgrimage. Today, it is one of only five remaining churches build over the tomb of an apostle, adding to it's importance.
Standing in the courtyard in front of the primary entrance, one is struck but intricate details of the structure, whose towers reach toward the sky. As it is early morning and with the sun having just risen in the east, the silhouette of the structure almost has a halo created by the first rays of daylight. It's quite striking. In this courtyard each day, as many as 3,000 pilgrims enter the city and complete their pilgrimage. Here they celebrate, or take pictures, or pray. The Camino de Santiago is a very personal journey and to each person it means something different.
I note that this main entrance is gated off and ask a security guard how to enter the chapel. Though there is some language barrier, he understands enough English to point me in the correct direction. This takes me around to a side entrance of the massive church. Here, a couple of hundred people wait patiently in line for their turn. I spot one of my friends and we wait together. It's not long before the line begins moving and we're ushered into the great chapel. While pictures are allowed, they are fairly strict about flash photography and any thing making noise. It is a church after all. One would think common sense would tell you not to enter with music blaring.
As we enter, the humongous chapel opens up before us in the shape of a cross with pews on three sides of the main alter which sits near the center of the room and extending well into the forth line of the cross shape. Hundreds of people shuffle around this Christian holy place. Some take pictures. Some cry. Some pray. Again, it's a very personal journey.
After taking some time to walk around all of the halls, I get in line to visit the remains of the apostle. The line takes me under the main alter, which is where the tomb is placed. Behind steel bars and sit back in a little stone cove, a small decorative silver box sits as the source for so many to come here. Following the line of people ahead of me, we climb back out the other side of the alter and then go up a set of steps and pass behind the alter, with the option to touch the shoulders or head of a statue of the saint along the way. I try to get a picture of this, but a guard stops me and explains that pictures are not allowed in this section. I put my phone away out of respect.
Once my exploration of the chapel was complete, I sat in a pew for a long while just watching pilgrims shuffle in and contemplating the meaning of this place and my own pilgrimage to get here. I'm not sure I came up with any real answers, but it's an amazing place nonetheless and even though I question the authenticity of the legends surrounding how the remains were recovered, I recognize and respect the spiritual and religious importance of this place.
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