Santiago de Compostella
In the early hours we arrived in the Galician harbor of La Coruna, port of entry for centuries of British and Irish pilgrims on the way of St James. In a short circuit of the city we were able to appreciate the distinctive and practical galleried facades of its houses, old and new, and view the magnificent Atlantic beaches. In the breakers, early morning surfers were active. We made a stop at the Roman lighthouse, and watched our ship depart the harbor for a day’s sail around Finisterra.
We have referenced St James already on this voyage: in our first port of call, we saw the high spire and clock of St Jacobi in Lübeck, which marked a similar point of entry for pilgrims from Scandinavia. For after Jerusalem and Rome, Santiago was the most prestigious place of pilgrimage in the Christian world. From here, Santiago Matamoros had inspired the Christian Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula that culminated in the expulsions of both the Muslim Moors and the Jews in 1492 and ushered in centuries of an intolerant monocultural Spain that arguably lasted until the downfall of Franco – another Galician, as it happens – in the 1970s.
Many pilgrim routes converged on Santiago, the most famous from Paris, starting from Notre Dame and crossing the Seine on the Rue St Jacques. Pilgrims have converged on Santiago daily for centuries. In recent years the pilgrimage has become very fashionable as a long distance trail, with or without spiritual overtones: the majority of those completing the pilgrimage these days, it seems, are not practicing Roman Catholics.
This year the pilgrimage is particularly popular for it is a Jacobeo, a special year in which the saint’s day falls on a Sunday. Our visit was on a Sunday – the busiest day of the week in normal times – so even the deluge of rain that greeted our arrival had not diminished the crowds and we were able to witness that remarkable phenomenon in twenty-first century Europe – renowned for its secularism – of people being turned away from a church service which was overcrowded. For those who gained entry there was the treat of the botafumeiro, an oversize incense burner designed to fumigate the pilgrims and facilitate the celebration of mass.
After the mass, a spectacular lunch in the Hostal de los Reyes Catolicos, the oldest hotel in continuous use in Europe and now a parador. Canapés and folk dancing preceded a fine meal during which we were serenaded by the local university tuna singers. Following lunch and after a tour of a – relatively – quiet cathedral, we drove to Muros for a dramatic Zodiac embarkation of the National Geographic Explorer in gale force winds.
