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Galicia Index
Santiago de Compostela
Travel and Tourist Information
ABOVE: Pilgrims and tourists hang out in the
Praza do Obradoiro, with the cathedral's main entrance as a backdrop. INSET: The
cathedral's Obradoirio façade.
 Santiago
de Compostela is the capital of Galicia, Spain's greenest and most
northwesterly region. The city is named after Santiago--a.k.a. the apostle of
St. James, whose ashes are said to fill a silver box in the cathedral--and it
has attracted religious pilgrims for more than a thousand years.
But Santiago de Compostela isn't just a destination for
indulgence-seekers, and you don't need a hair shirt or a pilgrim's staff to
qualify as a visitor. Michelin's Green Guide to Spain gives Santiago de
Compostela its top three-star rating ("worth a journey"), thanks to the city's
cultural heritage, beautifully preserved old town, and "an air at once ancient,
mystical, discursive, and lively."
With 92,000 residents and a university of 40,000 students,
Santiago de Compestela is small enough to be walkable but large enough to keep
you busy during a visit of several days or a week.
Thanks to low-cost air service from Madrid, London, Amsterdam,
Berlin, Paris, and other European
cities, Santiago is also an excellent gateway to
Galicia: a region with some 1,300 km of
coastline on the Atlantic and the Bay of Biscay, Celtic monuments, wild horses,
health resorts, and more than 300 cooking festivals that celebrate everything
from Gallego tetilla cheese to roasted chestnuts. (Tip: Save the
pilgrim's walk for the end of your trip; that way, you can enjoy the sin of
gluttony and get your slate wiped clean before you head home.)
Next page:
A holy city for pilgrims
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