Day 26 – Santiago de Compostela

July 14, 2019 – Today is Sunday and we woke up excited that Wayne didn’t have to go back to the room later and work….but as we were planning our day and looking at what we were going to see, we were bummed to see that some of the museums we wanted to go to were closed.  After breakfast from our host, we walked into old town and decided to hit the cathedral, the cathedral museum and the Museum of Pilgrims, which were also on the list of things to see. 

As we were walking we came upon a neat old church and a park called Parque de Bonaval with gardens surrounding it. There are ruins of an old cemetery there. The church and the area around it looked deserted. It is a shame that it couldn’t be more maintained. There are just so many of these historical places all around Spain, so maybe there isn’t money for it? The church was not open, but we were able to walk in the gardens. It was really beautiful and green and there were hydrangeas everywhere. We love just walking and coming across these little treasures.

Further along the way, we came across a group of people…they looked like hippies??? or gypsies???  We were not sure.  So, Wayne called them “hypsies.”  A large group was gathered in a circle in one of the large squares.  They were definitely Christians and had a Northern Celtic influence…some were playing bag pipes other were playing lutes; some were holding feathers in their right hand, or tambourines and some had these “instruments” on their lower legs that had many rattles made of natural seed pods from trees.  They were singing, dancing and worshiping with incense burning in the center.  It was beautiful and we were intrigued and trying to figure them out.  We sat and watched them for an hour or so.  I searched the internet to try to figure out who they were, etc. and didn’t come up with anything.

We moved on to The Museum of Pilgrimages, or the Gothic House. It houses an impressive collection of art and archaeological artifacts discovered in the cathedral during the twentieth century, as well as other important works that were stored in its basements. The heart of the museum is an overview of the different religious pilgrimages that take place throughout the world, with special attention, of course, to the Camino de Santiago and the Jacobean Route. This is the ideal place to discover its roots and what motivates thousands of pilgrims each year to undertake this unforgettable adventure. It is located in the old Bank of Spain building after an intense renovation.  It was very well done.

After the pilgrimage museum we decided to stop and have a beer…an added bonus was a bowl of potato chips that were served with the beer.  They were so salty and tasty and something about a cold beer when it is hot is so amazing… Life is so good… it’s the little things.

Next, we went to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela and its Museum.  The construction of the Romanesque Cathedral began in 1075 with many halts in its construction.  The last stone of the original structure was laid in 1122, but construction continued on for centuries.  Built mostly in granite, the building is a Romanesque structure, with the later Gothic and Baroque influences added.  It is beautiful and huge. 

As previously stated, the cathedral is the reputed burial place of St. James and is the destination of those making their pilgrimages on the Camino de Santiago.  One of the most magnificent parts of the cathedral is The Pórtico da Gloria (“Pórtico of the Glory”) by Master Mateo.  It is considered one of the masterpieces of medieval art.  This entryway was created over a twenty-year period.

The portico has three round arches that correspond to the three naves of the church, supported by thick piers with pilasters. The central arch, twice as wide as the other two, has a tympanum (area over the door) and is divided by a central column containing a depiction of St. James. Vertically, the lower part is formed by the bases of the columns, decorated with fantastic animals, the middle portion consists of columns adorned with statues of the Apostles, and the upper part supports the base of the arches crowning the three doors. The sculpture is intended to serve as an iconographic representation of various symbols derived from the Book of Revelation and books of the Old Testament.

Inside the cathedral there was a lot of restoration work being done and there was much scaffolding and many things covered, so we did not see much of the inside…including the portico, which you can normally see from inside the cathedral.  There was a separate tour to see that and we tried to get a ticket to see it, but the tours were all full, even the different language tours.  We were so upset not to be able to see this masterpiece…I guess we will have to return someday. Here is a stock photo of what we missed.

What we did notice right away when we walked into the cathedral was the giant swinging frankincense burner (thurible, or botafumerio in Spanish) … it was enormous.  It is suspended from a pulley mechanism in the dome on the roof of the church. The current pulley mechanism was installed in 1604. 

The present botafumerio is made of an alloy of brass and bronze and is plated by a very thin layer of silver. It was created in 1851. It has a golden sheen.  The Santiago de Compostela botafumeiro is one of the largest in the world, weighing 177 pounds and measuring 5.25 feet in height. It is normally on display in the library of the cathedral, but for certain important religious occasions, it is brought to the floor of the cathedral and attached to a rope hung from the pulley mechanism.

There is another large botafumeiro of the same size (The one that we saw in the cathedral) used in the other masses carried out in the cathedral, called “La Alcachofa” (literally, “The Artichoke“) or “La Repollo” (literally, “The Cabbage“). La Alcachofa is a silver-colored metal botafumerio. It was created in 1971 (so new in local terms we half expected to see a price tag still stuck on it.)  Shovels are used to fill the botafumeiro, with about 88 pounds of charcoal and frankincense. Eight men in red robes (frankincense carriers) are needed to carry the botafumerio and it is tied to the rope with elaborate knots. Then it is pushed initially to start its motion. The eight red-robed men pull the ropes, producing increasingly large oscillations of the censer. The botafumerio’s swings almost reach the ceiling of the transept. Here is a stock video:

The incensory can reach speeds of 42 mph as it dispenses thick clouds of frankincense.

At the top of the swing, the botafumeiro reaches heights of 69 feet. It swings in a 213 feet arc between the doorways at the ends of the transept. The maximum angle achieved is about 82°. The maximum can be reached after about 17 cycles, and requires about 80 seconds of swinging.

It costs about $500 for each botafumerio “performance” at the cathedral. Every Friday at morning mass, the botafumerio would swing, but now only on holy days and special occasions with a donation to cover the expense.  Although this is expensive, the swinging of the botafumerio is very popular with pilgrims, tourists and visitors.

We had to wait in line to go behind the High Altar to visit the statue of Santiago (St. James).  The statue is in the center of a dazzling Baroque altar which blazes with gold. It includes three depictions of St. James:  as teacher, pilgrim, and knight. But this magnificent, overwhelmingly ornate altar welcomes pilgrims in a surprisingly intimate way:  visitors are invited to climb the stairs that lead to an area behind the altar, where they can embrace the gilded statue of St. James from behind, wrapping their arms around him in a hug. It is believed that the hug to Saint James represents an appreciation moment where one can get physically close to him. The pilgrims of the Camino de Santiago ask for his favor in front of God. We had to wait in a very long line to see (and hug) the statue.  As we were waiting, a girl behind us tried to take cuts to get in front of us.  We have noticed in Spain, there is no such thing as waiting your turn…we have been patient, been assertive, been pushy as well…it doesn’t matter… a line does not exist in Spain and it drives us crazy.

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After, we descended underground below the alter into the crypt of St. James and saw the silver gilded casket where the saint’s relics are kept. It was all very beautiful to see and so many worshipers were filled with emotion.  One lady was so emotion filled that she literally flopped down on to the floor and began to sob uncontrollably when her husband told her she had to wait in line… That was also… fascinating??

After the cathedral we walked back to a different section of Alameda Park, where there is a lovely view of the cathedral and Old Town.  We learned that Alameda Park is a 16^th century park with historical monuments and a garden featuring ornamental trees and shrubs.  It is designed to resemble the grounds of a grand country estate, it has more than 90 different types of plants, beautiful places to rest and fountains.

OK… I will say it… I was so cranky…I needed to eat.  Wayne is not like me…I like to eat a snack every couple of hours or so…or at least breakfast, lunch and dinner.  He can go for hours on end without eating anything.  That doesn’t fly with me, so I was mad.  Wayne took my picture when I was cranky because he felt he needed to “document the moment”, typical….So anyway, I got my way, and we stopped for some food.  I was really craving some calamari and padrón peppers and Wayne decided to go all out and order some lamb chops.  We were also served a huge loaf of bread with oil and vinegar and two giant beers. 

As we were sitting there enjoying our meal, there was a Spanish guy across the street playing a guitar and singing.  He noticed that we enjoyed his music and approached us at our table and began engaging us in conversation.  He was super friendly, almost too friendly, but in the end it was sad that we were untrusting of this guy and thought he might be trying to scam us…he left shortly after but gave us a CD of his music as a gift.  We thought he might come back later for payment so we never touched his CD.  An hour later when we were leaving, he had not returned, and a true scammer came up and asked us for money…we told him no, but he asked for, and gladly took the CD.

We were so full after our meal that we went back to our room and took a siesta (we are used to a scheduled siesta now).  Then we woke up and blogged for a long while before bed.

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