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'Santiago de Compostela' (also 'Saint James' of Compostela) is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia. Located in the northwest region of Spain in the Province of A Coruña, it was the "European City of Culture" for the year 2000. The city's cathedral is the destination of the important medieval pilgrimage route, the Way of St James (in Spanish the ''Camino de Santiago'').

Contents

History

Demography

Main sights

Sister cities

See also

External links

History

===Way of St. James Pilgrimage===

Per year, over 100,000 pilgrims on foot, bicycle, donkey, or horseback come from over a 100 countries to claim their certificate called a 'compostela', based on their pilgrim passport called a 'credencial', filled with stamps from the towns they passed along the route. The credencial proves they have followed the route formally recognized by the "Pilgrim Association of St. James." It is unknown how many more pilgrims travel the route per year, without using a pilgrim's passport (also known as a "compostela"), which is only given to those with a religious purpose.
Many of the Northern European routes to Santiago today follow the same trails described in the Codex Calixtinus. The 5th book of the Codex mentions the trails starting in Paris, Vézelay, Le Puy and Arles, which all come together in the Pyrenees to form the Camino Frances (i.e., the 'French route').
The Spanish portion of the Camino Frances is the most popular pilgrimmage route to Santiago, attracting more than 80,000 pilgrims yearly. Other popular routes are known as the Silver route from Sevilla or 'Via de Plata', and the Portuguese route or 'Camino Portugués'.

Demography

Main sights

★ The cathedral.

Sister cities

★ Buenos Aires, Argentina

★ Mashhad, Iran

★ Santiago do Cacém, Portugal

See also

★ University of Santiago de Compostela

★ Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela

External links

★ Concello de Santiago de Compostela

★ Santiago-Today.com A site about Santiago de Compostela and the pilgrimage to this town

★ Walking the Camino de Santiago, A Guide

★ A 20 page mini guide about the buildings and attractions of the city

★ Webcam of Santiago cathedral square, where the pilgrims arrive at all times of the day.

★ Video of Santiago de Compostela on YouTube

★ An india ink drawing of the cathedral

★ 'www.ultreiaetsuseia.com' Page of the way of Santiago, advice, maps, photos, etc…...