Santiago de Compostela

Santiago de Compostela (säntyä`gō thā kōmpōstā`lä) or Santiago, city (1990 pop. 91,419), A Coruña prov., NW Spain, in Galicia, on the Sar River. The city is one of the chief shrines of Christendom. There in the early 9th cent. the supposed tomb of the apostle St. James the Greater was reputedly discovered by a miracle, and Alfonso II of Asturias had a sanctuary built. The city grew around the shrine and became, after Jerusalem and Rome, the most famous Christian place of pilgrimage in the Middle Ages. It still thrives as a pilgrimage and tourist center. It is an archiepiscopal see and has a university (founded 1501). Its economy is based on tourism, agriculture, and the manufacture of linen and paper. Its most remarkable building is the cathedral, which replaced the earlier sanctuary after its destruction (10th cent.) by the Moors. Built (11th–13th cent.) in Romanesque style, the cathedral has had baroque and plateresque additions and restorations. Other historic buildings include the Hospital Real (1501–11), built by Ferdinand and Isabella to accommodate poor pilgrims, and the Colegio Fonseca (16th cent.), a part of the university.

Bibliography

See E. F. Stanton, Road of Stars to Santiago (1994).

---

Santiago de Compostela

City (pop., 2001: 90,188), capital of Galicia autonomous community (comunidad autonóma), northwestern Spain. Santiago de Compostela contains a Romanesque cathedral completed in 1211 that was built on what was said to be the tomb of Jesus' apostle St. James. This tomb, discovered in the 9th century, became the most important Christian pilgrimage site in Europe after Rome. The town that grew up around the tomb was destroyed in 997 by the Moors and was rebuilt in the Middle Ages. Chief economic activities include agriculture, silverwork, wood engraving, and the manufacture of linen and paper. The city is home to several colleges and a university.

---

Santiago de Compostela

a city in NW Spain: place of pilgrimage since the 9th century and the most visited (after Jerusalem and Rome) in the Middle Ages; cathedral built over the tomb of the apostle St. James. Pop.: 92 339 (2003 est.)

---

Santiago de Compostela 

a city in Galicia in northwestern Spain, in La Coruña Province. Population, 70,900 (1970).

The various enterprises of Santiago de Compostela produce leather, alcoholic beverages, flour, and paper; the city also has flax-processing. The manufacture of religious cult articles, some of silver, is also prominent. The city has a university, founded in 1525. Santiago de Compostela is an object of religious pilgrimage; according to legend, St. James the Apostle was buried here. The city is also a tourist center.

The streets of central Santiago de Compostela are lined with porticoes, which, as linking elements, impart a unity to the surrounding architectural monuments. The cathedral (c. 1080–1211) is the most eminent example of Spanish Romanesque architecture. The narthex holds the Portico de la Gloria; the exterior was rebuilt in the baroque style in the 17th and 18th centuries. Also of note is the royal hospital, with its plateresque portal (1501–11; architect A. de Egas); it, too, was rebuilt in the 17th century.

Santiago de Compostela has an archaeological museum and a museum of tapestries, with Spanish and Flemish Gobelins.

REFERENCE

Chamoso Lamas, M. Santiago de Compostela. Barcelona [1961].