Tuesday, October 4, 2016

10/1 -- Explore Santiago de Compostela, Finish the Camino, Visit the Cathedral

We had a lazy morning, leaving the hotel at 9:45am. We walked to the Cathedral Square and started to explore the old town. As we approached, we heard Beethoven's Ode to Joy playing from an  unknown source, and in the square, two men were playing enormous Alpine horns. Nico had talked to a group from Lyon, France yesterday. We talked to them briefly but the horns close by made conversation difficult. Every two years, they make the trip here with disabled people. Much of the distance is covered by bus, but they also have unique wheel chair and walk 10km each day. Europe is a lot less adapted to people with disabilities than the US is and this seemed like a positive way to assist those who would have trouble making the pilgrimage on their own.
Alpine horn players
This wheelchair is designed to allow it to be pulled and pushed
and has stabilizing legs for a stationary position.

An interesting corner decoration
We visited the markets and sampled some cheeses. One of the little restaurants would cook the meat or fish you bought at the market for a mere 4 euros! We  looked at the fresh fruit and contemplated buying a fresh peach, but they were all hard, so we gave it up. We walked into a park where Nico shared the story of the two Marias. During the civil war, women typically wore black and these two were in bright clothes.  He explained that they were sisters and their brothers were on the anti-Franco side. When the brothers couldn't be found, the Gardia Civil arrested and tortured the sisters, and sent them naked through the streets, but they never revealed their brothers' whereabouts. Unfortunately, the treatment also affected their minds and their behavior became very non-traditional,  hence the bright clothing and rumors of scandalous behavior with students. However, they were also viewed as heroes of the civil war and assisted by their neighbors.
Nico with the dos Marias

Photo from the web showing the real sisters.

Afterwards, Nico tried to help us find a artisanal leather shop (vs. brand name) to no avail, so we had lunch with him (11 Euros for more than either of us could finish, including a glass of wine) and wandered back toward the square for our afternoon tour.
Above and below: streets in the old city


Chestnut sales display -- someone got creative and made a face.
Shell-shaped jewelry is very hot around here because the scallop shell is the symbol of the Camino, and  I found a lovely shell pendant of silver and cloisonne. We met our local guide, Gloria, and got an overview of our afternoon, then walked to our bus to ride to the last section of the Camino de Santiago about 1km from the end.


We walked the city streets toward the cathedral and saw a number of posters about various historical figures in Santiago history. Gloria told us that after Jesus was crucified, his apostles traveled across the area to spread the word and that James had come to Spain and then returned to Palestine where he died. His remains were transported in a stone boat and brought to a hill near the future Santiago to be buried around 100 A.D, where it was forgotten. About 700 years later, falling stars led a shepherd to the grave, which was confirmed by the local bishop to be that of St. James. To honor him, the cathedral was built over the grave and the city was named for him (Santiago = Santo Diego = St. James in Spanish, Campostela means field of stars, the falling stars the shepherd saw).
Historical figure

Door to the Capela de Animas

Detail over the door shows people burning in hell


One of the narrower streets in the old town
 
Entering the cathedral area.

This parador was built in an amazingly short
time by pressing the builders. They expressed
their exasperation in one of the gargoyles,
like the ones at the top here.

This is a typical gargoyle, which functions as
a roof drain.

This is the one that showed how they felt,
with perhaps more detail than you might
expect.

Statue of horses with fish tails - they helped
pull the stone boat with St. James' remains
across the sea to Spain.

We went into the cathedral and discovered that we were really lucky we had arrived on Friday and some of our group had gone to mass and seen the censor swing, because it was an uncommon occurrence -- the censor only swings when someone pays  to see it and the local businesses have paid to have it swing every Friday, hoping that will bring more people to the cathedral and then to the bars, restaurants, shops, and hotels. We entered at a 'quiet' time, but it was very busy with people. One special door is only open during designated years -- the door of mercy. You enter, confess to one sin, hug the statue of the saint, all your sins are forgiven, you visit the crypt and leave. Pope Francis, last year, declared an extra year of mercy, but you have to confess all your sins, not just one. In November this year, the door will close and the next Year of Mercy starts January, 2021.

We also visited one of the many side chapels. One was a favorite of Gloria's because many students come  here to request help, and she also likes the Romanesque style of it. She took her exam to be a tour guide 3 times before passing. After her first failure, she studied really hard and came here to ask for help, but failed again.The next year, she didn't study, came to the chapel, but didn't ask for help, and passed. When she was about to take her exam in the Chinese language, she brought a group, who all asked for her to pass, and she did. So her theory is that you either need a year between asking and achieving or a bunch of people supporting you.
Cathedral Nave - I am always impressed by
the narrowness and height.
The famous censor

This is the same statue of St. James slaying
moors that we saw in Leon.  Only when there
were Muslim visitors coming here, the moors
were covered with flowers.

Gloria in her favorite chapel.

This chapel has a wooden roof instead of the standard stone.



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