SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA

Santiago de Compostela

History in a few lines:

At the beginning of the ninth century, the bishop of Iria, Teodomiro, discovered the tomb of the apostle St James and Kings Alfonso II and Alfonso III erected churches and founded the monasteries of Antealtares and Pinario. The cult of Santiago, however, had aroused the distrust of the Muslim vizier, Almanzor, who razed Compostela to the ground in 997 and took the bells off to Cordoba.

Pilgrimage then reached the height of its popularity and Alfonso VI began construction of the Romanesque cathedral in 1075. A few years later, Count Ramon de Borgopa and Diego Gelmvrez pressed on with work on it and other churches and the city grew quickly as a result. In 1117, the people of Santiago rebelled against Queen Urraca y Gelmvrez.

In 1211, Maestro Mateo and his school completed the cathedral but the period up to the end of the Middle Ages was not entirely peaceful. Los Reyes Catolicos - the Catholic Monarchs - Fernando V of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile ushered in the Renaissance and built the Hospital Real, now a magnificent hotel. The archbishops of the Fonseca family left their own indelible mark by founding the university, meeting the costs of the cathedral's superb cloister and building the Fonseca College. The city and its cathedral, churches and monasteries were renovated during the Baroque period to give them the appearance they have today.

Today, Santiago, with more than 105,000 inhabitants, is a modern city where the old town has joined up with the suburbs of the new town. The Government of Galicia is located there and its university, with more than 35,000 students, is the most important in the region. The host of many conferences and conventions, Santiago is home to the Auditorium of Galicia and the modern Conference and Exhibition Centre.

Views of the city:

(September 2004)

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