Leaving beautiful Portugal, we journeyed on to Santiago de Compostela by way of the old Galician town of Pontevedra, our first stop in Spain. From there we continued on to Santiago, capital of Spain’s northwest Galicia region.

Santiago de Compostela is the last stop on the celebrated pilgrimage route of the Way of St. James. It’s been traveled by thousands of peregrinos (pilgrims) for 1,200 years and counting, and is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. The magnificent Cathedral is presumed to house the silver crypt believed to hold the remains of St. James the Apostle.

According to legend, the apostle St. James came to Galicia as a missionary to preach Christianity around 40 AD. Herod had him beheaded, and his body was taken away and buried. After his remains were found in the early 9th century, Galicians constructed a shrine and people began making a pilgrimage to it, taking various routes throughout Europe. Francis of Assisi, Dante Alighieri, Charlemagne, El Cid, and my friend Jim Clark number among the many who have walked this path, known as The Way. Those who can demonstrate (by showing stamps in a “pilgrim passport”) that they’ve walked at least 100 kilometers (about 60 miles) earn a compostela or certificate of completion when they reach Santiago. Well over 100,000 pilgrims from 100+ countries make the pilgrimage each year.

To mitigate the odor of the many pilgrims who slept in the Cathedral, eight men known as tiraboleiros would swing the renowned Botafumeiro, a massive censer suspended by a pulley from the ceiling. Here’s a video of it in action: https://youtu.be/CQ51-eZuG8A?feature=shared

The four sides of Plaza de Obradoiro, the square surrounded by Santiago’s most important and impressive buildings, represent four architectural styles: Neoclassical, Baroque, Renaissance, and Gothic, which in turn represent the four primary aspects of civic life: the religious (Cathedral), the political (Town Hall), the cultural (University of Santiago’s rectorate building), and the commercial (our historic hotel!).

It’s fun to explore this eminently walkable World Heritage city, with lots of niches and alleyways to get lost in, reminiscent at times of Venice. The marketplace where merchants offer produce, meat, fish, pastries, and more is a great way to spend time and sample delicious — and fresh — food from the region.

On the way to our next stop in the vibrant city of León, we passed through Astorga, known for its medieval walled Old Town and the Palacio Episcopal de Astorga, a building designed by Catalan architect António Gaudi and built between 1889 and 1913. Designed in the Catalan modernisme style, it is one of only three buildings he designed outside of Catalonia.

Next stop is León, also on The Way of St. James pilgrimage route. After a Moorish ruler sacked León in the 10th century, the Spanish rebuilt it, and it became the seat of Western Europe’s first parliament under King Alfonso IX in the 12th century. Our tour guide told us of the city’s impressive historical and architectural heritage, evident in the 13th-century León Cathedral, one of Spain’s most beautiful churches, with its sculpture-covered façade and impressive stained glass windows.

A couple of scenes from chapels within the Cathedral.

We stayed in a beautiful historic hotel in Leon, which was a former convent for monks in the 15th and 16th centuries and which perfectly combined modern style with ancient architecture.

Interior and exterior views of our beautiful hotel in Leon, a former convent for monks. In Europe, a convent occurs inside the city, whereas a monastery is outside the city. They can both refer to a place for nuns OR monks.

Continuing our journey, we stopped in the elegant port city and Cantabrian capital of Santander, which sits in one of Spain’s most beautiful bays. Spanish kings made this city their residence in the early 20th century. Highlights included Santander’s beaches and the cape of Cabo Mayor with its clifftop vista. Next stop: Bilbao.