SANTIAGO (Saint James) of Compostela (of Galicia), Archdiocese of. - City and archdiocese of Spain, situated in the extreme north-western part of Galicia, it comprises almost the whole civil province of Coruña, including its capital, a large part of that of Pontevedra, likewise with its capital, and 3 parishes of that of Orense; it borders on the dioceses of Mondoñedo, Lugo, Orense and Tuy, which together with Oviedo are its suffragans.
It has an area of 8,336 sq. km. with a population of 1,154,000 inhabitants, of whom 1,153,000 are Catholics, distributed in 1,021 parishes, served by 931 diocesan priests and 156 regulars; it has two seminaries, 20 male religious communities and 88 female ones (Ann. Pont. 1952, p. 365).
Around the year 830 a tomb of the Roman age was discovered in the territory of Amaca (diocese of Iria Flavia) which was believed to be that of the apostle St. James the Greater. A star was said to have indicated the place Campus stellae, whence the name which later, joined to that of St. James under Urban II (1095), formed the new name of the diocese and of the city. It was told that the saint had appeared in the battle of Clavijo in 834 and had put the Moors to flight, and he was therefore recognized in him as the knight «matamoro», slayer of the Moors. The scallop shell of St. James was to become the badge of pilgrims, according to the legend derived from those shells (pecten jacobaeus) which were said to have covered a knight of the Pimentel family and his horse, in crossing a stretch of sea near Comiña, when the body of the Apostle was being translated. In 1175 Pope Alexander III confirmed the statutes of the military Order of Santiago. Santiago is the patron of the Spanish nation; and the war cry of the Spaniards was once Santiago!
S. de C. is the oldest and most celebrated centre of pilgrimage in all of Spain. The cult of St. James developed more and more in the 10th century and grew enormous in the 12th, after the Cluniac abbots had organized the great pilgrimages towards Galicia; along the main roads that led there arose hospices and churches dedicated to the Apostle. Even today the influx of pilgrims is notable, especially in the second half of July and above all when 25 July (the feast of the Apostle) falls on a Sunday, on which the jubilee is gained. Among the pilgrims is also numbered St. Francis of Assisi, who has in S. a church dedicated to him, with three naves, erected in 1742 by S. Rodriguez; the adjoining convent of St. Francis was founded by the Saint himself and contains the tomb of its builder Cotalay (d. 1238), a disciple of the Saint; today it is used as the Seminary of the Missions of the Holy Land and of Morocco; a monument in honour of St. Francis is in the square of the same name.
The diocese was created in the 9th century and was elevated to a metropolitan see by Pope Callistus II in 1120, uniting Merida to it as well.
The present Cathedral, which replaces the ancient one, plundered and burned by the Saracens of Almanzor (997), was begun in 1073 by Bishop Diego Pelaez and its high altar was consecrated in 1105. It is in the form of a Latin cross with three naves in Romanesque-Byzantine style; it is 97 m. long by 20 m. wide. Not all the parts are ancient, since in the course of time some works have been added, which however have not altered the main lines. The architects were Bernardo Gutierrez, treasurer of this Cathedral and chancellor of King Alfonso VII, Roberto and Matteo. The architecture as a whole greatly recalls St. Sernin of Toulouse. A part of the basilica was consecrated by Archbishop Diego Gelmirez in 1105; the whole in 1211. Its titular is the apostle St. James; his feast is on 25 July for the translation; for the apparition on 23 May. The dedication of the Cathedral (the last in 1211) is commemorated on the Monday after Low Sunday.
The cathedral church preserves in its crypt the relics of the apostle St. James enclosed in a very rich silver urn, and many plenary indulgences have been granted by the Popes to pilgrims during ordinary years. It also has the title of «Apostolic», its capitulars are chaplains of honour to the king, and the dignitaries use by apostolic privilege the mitre in processions and incensations of the altar in vesperal functions. A very particular custom of this church is the so-called «botafumeiro», that is the colossal censer which, moved by several men with a system of powerful ropes, swings through the whole main nave, perfuming the entire church; this rite comes from the Middle Ages. Another peculiarity is the «dance of the giants» before the image of St. James in the Capilla Mayor after the morning function of the principal feast.
The west façade, the work of F. Casas y Novoa, called that of the Obradoiro (1731), is preceded by a great double-ramp staircase of 1606 which leads into the portico (de la Gloria), the work of Master Matteo (1168-83), adorned with slightly polychromed reliefs added in 1651; the three great arches represent the Catholic Church, that «ex gentibus» and that «ex circumcisione». In the centre is the group of St. James between two kneeling kings, then the statue of his disciples Athanasius and Theodore, at the sides other statues; then the capilla del Dean with a tympanum presenting the adoration of the Magi (14th century). On the south side is the door called «de las Platerias» of the 11th century, which leads into the transept. It is decorated with statues of prophets and saints, works of a Tolosan sculptor of the end of the 11th century. At the south-east corner rises the clock tower 72 m. high, begun in 1316 and finished in 1680; the great bell has a diameter of 2.50 m.
The east façade contains the «puerta Santa» which is opened in jubilee years, flanked by 24 granite statues of prophets and saints; to its left is the «puerta Real» in classical style (1606). To the north opens the «puerta de la parroquia» or «de la Azabacheria», the work of V. Rodriguez (1765-70); by means of great arcades it communicates with the archiepiscopal Palace.
The «capilla mayor» was rebuilt in the 17th century; it contains a seated statue of St. James, whose pilgrim's cloak is in silver encrusted with diamonds and precious stones (1765); another wooden group represents the Apostle with 4 kneeling kings, the work of P. Del Valle (1667); furthermore the equestrian statue of the Apostle by M. De Prado (1677) which is often carried in procession. Around this chapel others open, such as that of the Pilar (1691-1726) with the tomb of Archbishop F. A. Monroy (1721), the «capilla del Espiritu Santo» with the sepulchres of Archbishop A. de Moscoso (1383), of Cardinal Pedro Varela (1574); the «capilla de la Corticela», ancient parish of foreigners, with the tomb of Cardinal Eanes (1342); the chapel called «de la Comunion» with the sepulchres of Archbishops Lope de Mendoza (d. 1451) and Rajov (d. 1772); the chapel of the «Cristo de Burgos» with the tombs of its founder Archbishop Carrillo (1667) and of Cardinal García Cuesta (1873). Near the transept is the grandiose cloister which forms a quadrilateral 39 m. on each side; it was erected between 1521-80 by J. De Alava and G. de Hontañon in flamboyant Gothic style.
This church has a very rich treasury of relics, images and vestments: the gilded silver statue of the patron (15th century) and the reliquary bust of the same Saint (16th century); most precious silver frontals of the main chapel of the Solitude; a very tall silver monstrance with precious stones; several crosses of the 13th century; images, also of silver, of St. Peter and St. Paul. In the chapel of the Relics the skull of the apostle St. James the Less is venerated, and the tombs of the sovereigns Ferdinand II, Berenguela, Alfonso VII and Alfonso IX are preserved there. In the well-ordered Capitular Archive there are diplomas of almost all the Spanish sovereigns from the time of Alfonso II the Chaste and of several Roman pontiffs.
To the west of the Cathedral and beneath the stairs opens the "Catedral Vieja", which is nevertheless contemporary with the other building, since it was begun at the end of the 11th century and strengthened to support the Portico of Glory of Master Matthew. It is in the form of a cross with arches supported by great pillars with richly decorated capitals. To the north rises the Archiepiscopal Palace, built in the 18th century on the ancient palace of Gelmirez, first archbishop of Compostela (1120-49), whose majestic remains (12th and 13th centuries) constitute a capital monument of Spanish civil architecture. The Archaeological Museum attached to the Basilica contains fragments of architecture and sculpture from the demolished parts and 108 precious remains.
Other notable churches are: the church of St. Mary of the Camino, of the 18th century; the church of St. Felix de Solovio, which preserves the portal of the 12th century and the tomb of Cardinal Lopez Gonzalez of the 15th century, while the rest is of the 18th century. The church of St. Martin, erected in 1590 by M. Lopez, is adorned with 15 statues and preceded by a flight of steps; the interior, with 3 naves, was completed in 1647 by M. De Prado. The church of St. Augustine is of 1648, with three naves and a dome with a neo-classical facade. The church of St. Mary Salome is of the 12th century with a facade of the 15th. The church of St. Susanna is of the 12th century; that of the Pilar of the 17th century.
The Seminary was founded in 1829 by the archbishop Father Raffaele Veles, a Capuchin. It had been placed in the college erected by the archbishop Giovanni di S. Clemente in the 16th century; but as this was insufficient, Cardinal García Cuesta in 1868 transferred it to the Benedictine monastery of St. Martin Pinaris, and it is truly magnificent. It is governed by the Constitutions given to it by Cardinal Herrera on 8 July 1827. It is pontifical.
The "Colegio de S. Jeronimo", today a normal school, was founded in 1501 and rebuilt in 1665; it has a cloister attached; the College "de Fonseca" (1544), with a tower of 1601, today houses the Faculty of Pharmacy. In the College "de los Remedios" the chapel of 1671 contains the tomb of Cardinal Martin de Herrera. The College "de Sanclemente" was founded by the archbishop of the same name in 1601; it is today occupied by the School of Arts and Crafts. The convent of St. Dominic, today reduced to a hospice, has attached a church with three naves of the 14th century. The "Hospital Real" was erected by the Catholic Monarchs for pilgrims between 1501-1511; it is the work of E. de Egas, but the facade was rebuilt in 1678; the precious chapel is in the ogival style with a dome. The "Hospital de S. Roch", also for pilgrims, is of the 16th century. In the suburb called "de Horres" rises the church of St. Mary del Real de Sar of the 12th century, formerly of the Templars. The original facade was replaced in 1732; the Romanesque portal remains; on the outside the buttresses too are of the 18th century; the interior has three naves with a triple apse; the sumptuous cloister attached is attributed to Master Matthew, has paired small columns and pillars with rich decoration, contains tombs of the priors from the 13th to the 15th century and a monolithic granite baptismal font (C. Sanchez Rivera, La Iglesia de Santa Maria la Real de Sar, Santiago 1920). On the road between S. and Orense is the monastery of Osera, founded by the Cistercians in 1135; it was destroyed by a fire in 1552 and rebuilt in the following century; it was called the Escorial of Galicia. The church has a classical facade with Baroque towers; it has three naves and preserves a Romanesque dome and apse, remains of wall paintings and historiated capitals.
In the diocese there are the distinguished collegiate church of the city of La Coruña and the former collegiate church of St. Mary Iria Flavia. From this diocese depends the church of the Incarnation of Madrid, of Royal Patronage, founded in 1611 by Queen Margaret of Austria, wife of Philip III, with a monastery of Augustinian nuns. The spiritual jurisdiction belongs to the archbishop of S.
Very many prelates, distinguished for virtue, blood and letters, have illustrated this Compostelan see: among them not a few cardinals.