"THE MAGIC OF SANTIAGO" Santiago de Compostela by MaheshSamtani

Santiago de Compostela is a monumental city, a stony miracle that has been conforming throughout the centuries concerning the sepulcher of the Apostle Santiago and that has been proved as one of the most splendid architectural and harmonic sets of the world. Considered one of three spiritual capitals of the Christianity together with Rome and Jerusalem, right from the Middle Ages has been a destination of religious peregrinations, a phenomenon that would give origin to the reknown Camino de Santiago, real vertebral column of the art and the thought of that, as Goethe said, Europe's idea would be born.

From the XIIth century Santiago is A Metropolitan Headquarters and possesses the privilege of the Holy Year To rejoice, that is celebrated when the festivity of Santiago Apostle (July 25) coincides on a Sunday.

Santiago de Compostela is from 1980 the political and administrative capital of the Autonomous Community of Galicia, a historical community that has its own language, called Gallego in Spanish and a flourishing culture. It has a population of aprox. 97.000 inhabitants, to which it is necessary to add the important group of university students that takes the population to approximately 130.000 persons. At present, Compostela continues being a city with the vocation of a place of meeting.

Besides being an objective of peregrination, it is a tourist center of the highest magnitude, with an annual average of 3,5 million visitors that in The Holy Year increases up to seven million people.

For its incomparable cultural and architectural treasures, the city of Santiago de Compostela was declared as a Joint Historical - artistic and National Monument in 1940. In 1984 it was declared by the UNESCO heritage city and has been awarded numerous prizes and distinctions that recognize the work done in the field of the conservation and adding value to its rich patrimony.

Even if you are not a lover of monuments and history, the magic of Santiago will make every minute of your stay a great and memorable visit.