"Santiago de Compostela, Spain " a Santiago de Compostela Travel Page by Shabu

Santiago de Compostela is a beautiful city with magnificant achitecture from many different eras in history; from Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance to Baroque and Neo-Classic.

This wonderous city was founded at the start of the middle ages as a shrine. The purpose was to attract hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to the cathedral to worship the remains of the Apostle Santiago (St. James) supposedly brought there from Palestine.

My first visit to Santiago was last July. This just so happened to be the year of the Pilgrimage which occurs when July 25th falls on a Sunday. Pilgrims from all over the world come to walk the Camino de Santiago. It can be a long journey where the lonelines of the pilgrims is soothed by friendships made along the way. Then there is the scenery of the beauty that history has left behind in towns and villages on the way, the fountains, the trees, and paths where you can rest and gather strength to continue your journey on to Compostela.

The Pilgrimage has forever left something with me that I can never explain or will ever forget. The sights, the sounds, the people will forever have a place in my mind and in my heart. I always feel that yearning to return to this wonderous place, this place that feels so much like home.

Give me my scallop-shell of quiet,
My staff of faith to walk on,
My script of joy, immortal diet,
My bottle of salvation,
My gown of glory, hope's true gage,
And thus I'll take my pilgrimage.