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| View of Santiago from Miradoiro da Catedral |
Santiago de Compostela is
a 96,405
inhabitants city and capital city of the region of Galicia. It's the destination of one of the most important Catholic pilgrimages (since the 9th century) in the world, the Way of St. James, because Santiago's shrine is said to be the place where James, son of Zebedee (one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus, was buried. Santiago de Compostela city center was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985 and it also has one of the oldest and best universities in Spain (from the 15th century).
How do I arrive to Santiago de Compostela?
Santiago de Compostela is very well connected with other destinations in Galicia and the rest of Spain, as well as with some Portuguese cities in the north of the country.
- Plane:
there are many national and some international flights to Santiago de Compostela Airport. To go from
the airport to the city, there are buses (each 30 minutes; 5.10€/ 3€ round-trip/one way) and taxis. It's 13 km east from the center of the city.
- Train:
there are at least 5 daily train routes from Santiago to Madrid (aprox. 5 hours 15 minutes) and vice versa. The routes in Galicia link Santiago with Padrón (aprox. 15 minutes), Pontevedra (aprox. 40 minutes) and Vigo (aprox. 1 hour) every hour and with A Coruña (aprox. 30 minutes) every 30 minutes. There are also available daily trains to Lalín (aprox. 50 minutes) or every hour to Ourense (aprox. 40 minutes).
- Bus: from Santiago Bus Station has frequent connections with most of the cities of Galicia. It also has connections with other Spanish cities like Madrid or Barcelona and with Portugal, in particular with Braga (2 daily buses, aprox. 3 hours) and Porto (3 daily buses, aprox. 4 hours).
- Car:
if you rented a car, it's a 40 minutes ride from Padrón, 45 minutes journey from Noia, 50 minutes from Lalín, one hour away from Pontevedra and 1 hour 10 minutes from Ferrol, a 1 hour 10 minutes journey from A Coruña, 1.5 hours from Lugo and also from Fisterra. It can also be reached going from Portugal, it's 2 hours away from Viana do Castelo, 2 hours 10 minutes from Braga and 2.5 hours from Porto.
History
The area where currently is locates Santiago de Compostela is usually associated to the Roman mansio of Assegonia. Alfonso II, the king of Asturias, after the discovery of St. James' tomb, founded a parish here with vast privileges (giving him a faithful town in Galicia's heart and a patron saint to inspire the fight against Al-Ándalus). The city is based on the finding of St. James, the 15th century university and the fact of being the capital city of Galicia. Little by little the importance of Santiago grew. In the 11th century the Romanesque started being built and under the bishop Xelmirez Santiago turnt into archbishop. Here it was written the Codex Calixtinus in the 12th century and humanism flourished in the 15th century. In the 16th century there was an artistic brillance period, with many sightseeing points dating back from these years. The 19th century made Santiago a bastion of carlism (linked to the desire of restoration of the Kingdom of Galicia) and in the 20th century there was a surge of Galicianism till the Spanish Civil War. After Franco's dictatorship Santiago grew again due to being named capital city of Galicia, despite the creation of the universities of Vigo and A Coruña.
Santiago de Compostela's top 5
If
you have little or you just don't want to visit all Santiago, here's a
list of the 5 places and things to do you can't miss here.
- Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.
- Portico of Glory.
- Monastery of St. Martiño Pinario.
- Museum of Pilgrimage and Santiago.
- Museum of Galician People.
What can I visit in Santiago de Compostela?
These are Santiago de Compostela's main attractions:
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| Façade of the Obradoiro |
Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela: temple built in honour of St. James, one of the apostles of Jesus Christ. The first temple dates back to the 9th century, having been built a pre-Romanesque one too before the Romanesque one, whose structure has been preserved till our days. The main façade is called Façade of the Obradoiro, designed in Barroque style by Fernando de Casas Novoa. In the inner part of the cathedral there's a sculpture of St. James (which pilgrims hug and kiss) and the tomb where St. James was buried. There are also other touristic points in the cathedral's building such as the Cathedral Museum (9-20 from Apr to Oct; 10-20 from Nov to Mar; 6€ /4€ adults/reduced), museum with works of art of the cathedral and which shows its history, its relics and a space for Master Mateo.
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| Tomb of St. James in the Cathedral |
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Another one is Portico of Glory (only with guided tour; 10€ /8€ adults/reduced), western entrance of the Romanic cathedral with a representation of Apocalypse and Torre da Carraca (12€ /10€ adults/reduced), tower where the cathedral's carraca is kept and where there are great views from Santiago. There's a combined ticket for the museum and portico (12€ /10€ adults/reduced) and the museum and Torre (15€ /12€ adults/reduced). It's highly recommended buying in advance the tickets for Portico of Glory.
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| Hostal dos Reis Católicos |
Hostal dos Reis Católicos: 15th century hotel built the Catholic Monarchs for the pilgrims of the Way of St. James.
It is widely considered the oldest continuously operating hotel in the
world and has also been called the most beautiful hotel in Europe. Nowadays is a Parador hotel.- Pazo de Raxoi: 18th century Neoclassical palace built by Carlos Lemaur for the archbishop Bartolomé de Raxoi (or Rajoy). Today it's used as city hall.
- Pazo de Xelmirez: 13th century Romanesque palace built under bishop Xelmirez, a great example of Romanesque civil architecture in Galicia. Nowadays it's home of the archbishop of Santiago.
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| Statue at Museum of Pilgrimage and Santiago |
- Museum of Pilgrimage and Santiago (9:30-20:30 Tue-Fri; 11-19:30 Sat; 10:15-14:45 Sun; 2.40€ /1.20€ /free adults/reduced/retiree and kids): museum which puts in contexts the Way of St. James, comparing it with other religions and pointing out its importance for the city, closely linked to it and also explains the figure of St. James, the legens linked to it and his representation in arts. It's a very good idea visiting it to have a first impression of Santiago de Compostela; from its 3rd floor there's a nice view of the catherdral's roof.
- Casa da Parra: traditional Galician house whose building has the typical chimney of the 18th century.
- Convent of St. Paio de Antealtares: 10th century monastery whose building is built in Barroque style. Nowadays, apart from being a convent, it hosts Santiago Holy Art Museum (10:30-13:30 and 16-19 Mon-Sat; 16-19 Sun; 1.50€), museum which hosts many of the relics related to St. James and all the holy art related to it. Some of the most outstanding pieces are a 13th century Christ sculpture, a 17th century copy of the Rule of St. Benedict or the reliquary where it's placed St. Pelagius' left arm.
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| Choir stails at Monastery of St. Martiño Pinario |
- Monastery of St. Martiño Pinario (10-20 from Nov to May; 11-19 from Nov to May; 4€/ 3€ adults/ reduced): Barroque Benedictine monastery (in use till the 19th century) with a 17th century church and a museum displaced all over the monastery. The most outstanding points of it are the choir stails by Mateo de Prado, the main altarpiece and the pharmacy. It's the 2nd largest monastery in Spain.
- San Xerome College: Romanesque college founded by the archbishop Alonso III de Fonseca to host poor students. Since the 1980s it is home of the rector's office of the University of Santiago de Compostela.
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| Pazo de Fonseca's yard |
Pazo de Fonseca: 16th century pazo built in Barroque style with a Plateresque façade. It was built under the archbishop Alonso III Fonseca. It belongs to the University of Santiago de Compostela and its yard is the only point which can be visited.- St. Francisco Convent and Church (10:30-13:30 and 16:30-20:30; free): Gothic convent and church founded by St. Francis of Asis when he visited the city.
- Alameda Park: 16th century park, the main one in Santiago, where spending some time relaxing or doing sport. Here there's the Miradoiro da Catedral which provides an excellent view of the Cathedral.
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| St. Fiz de Solovio Chuch's façade |
Eugenio Granell Museum-Foundation (9:30-20:30 Tue-Fri; 11-14 and 16-20 Tue-Sat from Oct to May; 2€/ 1€/ free adults/ reduced/ retiree and kids): museum placed in Pazo de Bendaña that displays works by Eugenio Granell, a Spanish painter, writer and poet which belonged to Surrealism movement. There are also temporary expositions.- Mazarelos Arc: one of the only remaining parts of Santiago de Compostela's town wall, dating back to the Middle Age.
- St. María Salomé Church (10:15-13 and 16:15-18; free): 12th century Barroque church built in archbishop Xelmírez times consagrate to St. James' mother.
- Geography and History Faculty of the University of Santiago: Neoclassic building built in the 18th century with a beautiful auditorium and views from all Santiago. It can be visited with guided tours.
- St. Fiz de Solovio Church (30 minutes before mass; free): 9th century church with a Romanesque façade. The rest of the building is from other periods and its tower (18th century) was taken as model for other church towers in Galicia. Its placed in the place where, according to the legend, St. Paio (who discovered St. James' tomb) lived. It hosts masses in many languages, from Galician to Polish.
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| Boat at the Museum of Galician People |
Museum of Galician People (10:30-14 and 16-19:30 Tue-Sat; 11-14 Sun; 3€/ 1€/ free adults/ retiree and students/ kids): ethnographic museum placed in the former Baroque convent of St. Dominic of Bonaval whose collection shows traditional Galician objets related to the sea, costumes, arts and society. The convent also has a beautiful staircase and the Pantheon of Illustrious Galicians (where Rosalía de Castro and Alfonso Daniel Rodríguez Castelao, among others, are buried) and a beautiful spiral staircase.- Galician Contemporary Art Center (11-20 Tue-Sun; free): museum used to promote Contemporary art in Galicia which hosts temporary exhibitions.
- St. Dominigos de Bonoval Park: park which convines the former vegetable garden of the convent and a former cemetery.
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| Interior of Church of St. Mary a Real do Sar |
- Church of St. María a Real do Sar (11-19 Tue-Sat; 11-15 Sun; free): church
founded in the 12th century with important influence from Master Mateo.
It has a beautiful cloister and it can be seen that its pillars are
leaning because of being built so close to the river Sar.
- City of Culture of Galicia: complex of cultural buildings designed by Peter Eisenman placed in Mount Gaiás. Its main sightseeing point is Gaiás Centre Museum (10-20 Tue-Sun; free), museum which hosts expositions that can't be done in other places of Galicia due to its size. The building is impressing on its own and has temporary expositions.
Where can I eat in Santiago de Compostela?
Santiago has a very typical dessert from the city, torta de Santiago (an almond cake). The recomendations for low budgets are the traditional inn O Gato Negro (Rúa da Raíña), tapas bar Abastos 2.0 (Rúa das Ameas 13-18), O Piorno inn (Rúa da Caldeirería 24), Casa Manolo (Praza de Cervantes), Mariscomania (Praza de Abastos) or the cafe Candilejas (Praza de Mazarelos 11). For medium budgets there's a huge offer and here are some of the most important ones: the restaurant Entre Rúas (Ruela de Entrerruas 2), O Dezaseis (Rúa de San Pedro 16), La Bodeguilla de San Roque (Rúa de San Roque 13), the inn Mama Peixe (Rúa da Algalia de Arriba 45) or A táboa de picar (Rúa do Pombal 17). In Padrón the main and most typical ingridient are Padrón peppers.
There are also places where going out and drink like the pub Momo (Rúa da Virxe da Cerca 23).
12:54
Banknotemaniac
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