SANTIAGO (SAN GIACOMO) DE COMPOSTELA (IN GALICIA), ARCHDIOCESE OF. – A city and archdiocese of Spain, situated in the extreme northwestern part of Galicia, it comprises almost the entire civil province of La Coruña, including its capital, a large part of that of Pontevedra, also with its capital, and three parishes of that of Orense; it borders 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 regular clergy; it has two seminaries, 20 male religious communities and 88 female (Ann. Pont. 1952, p. 365).
Around the year 830, a tomb of Roman age was discovered in the territory of Amaya (diocese of Iria Flavia), believed to be that of the Apostle St. James the Greater. A star is 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 the city. It was said that the saint had appeared in the battle of Clavijo in 834 and had put the Moors to flight, and he was therefore recognized as the knight “matamoros,” slayer of the Moors. The scallop shell of St. James became the emblem of pilgrims, according to the legend derived from those shells (pecten jacobaeus) which are said to have covered a knight of the Pimentel family and his horse as they crossed 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. St. James is the patron of the Spanish nation; and the war cry of the Spaniards was once “¡Santiago!” Santiago de Compostela is the oldest and most famous pilgrimage center in all of Spain. The cult of St. James developed increasingly in the 10th century and grew enormously in the 12th, after the Cluniac abbots had organized the great pilgrimages to Galicia; along the main roads leading there, hospices and oratories dedicated to the Apostle arose. Even today the influx of pilgrims is considerable, especially in the second fortnight of July and especially when July 25 (the feast of the Apostle) falls on a Sunday, when the jubilee is gained. Among the pilgrims is also St. Francis of Assisi, who has a church dedicated to him in Santiago, with three naves, built in 1742 by S. Rodriguez; the adjoining convent of St. Francis was founded by the Saint himself and contains the tomb of its builder Cotolay (d. 1238), a disciple of the Saint; today it is used as a seminary for the Missions of the Holy Land and Morocco; a monument in honor of St. Francis stands in the square of the same name.
The diocese was established in the 9th century and was elevated to metropolitan status by Pope Callistus II in 1120, also incorporating Mérida.
The present cathedral, which replaced the ancient one, sacked and burned by the Saracens of Almanzor in 997, was begun in 1073 by Bishop Diego Peláez, and its high altar was consecrated in 1105. It is in the form of a cross with three naves in a Byzantine Romanesque style; it is 97 m. long and 20 m. wide. Not all parts are ancient, since over time some works have been added, which however have not altered the main lines. The architects were Bernardo Gutiérrez, treasurer of this cathedral and chancellor to King Alfonso VII, Roberto, and Mateo. The architecture as a whole closely resembles that of St. Sernin in Toulouse. Part of the basilica was consecrated by Archbishop Diego Gelmírez in 1105; the whole in 1211. The titular is the Apostle St. James; his feast is on July 25 for the translation; for the apparition, May 23. 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 the Greater, and to the left of it is the “Puerta Real” in classical style (1606). To the north opens the “Puerta de la Parroquia” or “de la Azabachería,” a work by V. Rodríguez (1765–70); by means of large arches 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 of silver inlaid with diamonds and precious stones (1765); another wooden group represents the Apostle with four kneeling kings, a work by P. del Valle (1667); it also contains the equestrian statue of the Apostle by M. de Prado (1677), which is often carried in procession. Around this chapel open others, such as that of the Pilar (1691–1726) with the tomb of Archbishop F. A. Monroy (1721). The “Capilla del Espíritu Santo” contains the tombs of Archbishop A. de Moscoso (1383) and Cardinal Pedro Varela (1574); the “Capilla de la Corticela,” the ancient parish church of foreigners, with the tomb of Cardinal Eanes (1342); the chapel called “de la Comunión” with the tombs of Archbishops Lope de Mendoza (d. 1451) and Rajoy (d. 1772); the chapel of the “Cristo de Burgos” with the tombs of its founder Archbishop Carrillo (1667) and Cardinal García Cuesta (1873). Near the transept is the grand cloister, forming a quadrilateral of 39 m. on each side; it was erected between 1521 and 1580 by J. de Álava and G. de Hontanón in the Gothic style.
This church has a very rich treasury of relics, images, and vestments: the gilded silver statue of the titular saint (15th century) and the reliquary bust of the same saint (16th century); most precious silver frontals of the high altar of the Solitude; a very tall silver monstrance with precious stones; several crosses of the 13th century; images, also of silver, of Sts. Peter and Paul. In the Chapel of Relics is venerated the skull of the Apostle St. James the Less, and there are preserved the tombs of the monarchs Ferdinand II, Berenguela, Alfonso VII, and Alfonso IX. In the well-ordered chapter archives 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,” contemporary, however, with the other building since it was begun at the end of the 12th century and reinforced to support the Portico of Glory of Master Mateo. It is in the form of a cross with arches supported by large pillars with richly decorated capitals. To the north stands the archiepiscopal palace, built in the 18th century on the site of the ancient palace of Gelmírez, first archbishop of Compostela (1120–49), whose majestic remains (12th–13th centuries) constitute a capital monument of Spanish civil architecture. The archaeological museum annexed to the basilica contains fragments of architecture and sculpture from the demolished parts and 108 precious tapestries.
Other notable churches are: the church of Santa María del Camino, of the 18th century; the church of San Félix de Solovio, which preserves the portal of the 12th century and the tomb of Cardinal López González of the 15th century, while the rest is of the 18th century. The church of San Martín, erected in 1590 by M. López, is adorned with 15 statues and preceded by a staircase; the interior, with three naves, was completed in 1647 by M. de Prado. The church of San Agustín is from 1648, with three naves and a dome with a neoclassical façade. The church of Santa María Salomé is from the 12th century with a 15th-century façade. The church of Santa Susana is from the 13th century; that of the Pilar from the 18th century.
The seminary was founded in 1820 by Archbishop P. Raffaele Velez, a Capuchin. It had been placed in the college erected by Archbishop Giovanni di San Clemente in the 16th century; but since this was insufficient, Cardinal García Cuesta in 1868 transferred it to the Benedictine monastery of San Martín Pinario, and it is truly grand. It is governed by the constitutions given it by Cardinal Herrera on July 8, 1827. It is a pontifical seminary.
The “Colegio de S. Jeronimo,” now a normal school, was founded in 1501 and rebuilt in 1665; it has an adjoining cloister. The “Colegio de Fonseca” (1544), with a tower from 1601, now houses the Faculty of Pharmacy. In the “Colegio de los Remedios” the chapel of 1671 contains the tomb of Cardinal Martín de Herrera. The “Colegio de Sanclemente” was founded by the archbishop of the same name in 1601; today it is occupied by the School of Arts and Crafts. The convent
SANTIAGO DI COMPOSTELLA, ARCIDIOCESI OF – Façade of the Cathedral (1738–47) – Santiago.
(photo Roisin)
relics of the Apostle St James are enclosed in a most sumptuous silver casket, and plenary indulgences have been granted by the Popes to pilgrims during ordinary years. The cathedral also bears the title “Apostolic”; its canons are honorary chaplains of the king, and by apostolic privilege the dignitaries use the mitre in processions and in censing the altar during vespers. A very special custom of this church is the so-called “botafumeiro,” a colossal censer swung by several men through a system of stout ropes so that it traverses the entire main nave, perfuming the whole church; this rite dates from the Middle Ages. Another peculiarity is the “dance of the giants” performed before the image of St James in the High Chapel after the morning service on the principal feast-day.
The west façade, the work of F. Casas y Novoa, known as the Obradoiro (1731), is preceded by a grand double staircase of 1606 leading into the Portico of Glory (de la Gloria), the work of Master Mateo (1168–83), adorned with slightly polychrome reliefs added in 1651; the three great arches represent the Catholic Church, that “from the Gentiles,” and that “from the Circumcision.” At the centre stands the group of St James between two kneeling kings, then statues of his disciples Athanasius and Theodore, with other statues at the sides; next comes the Dean’s chapel with a pediment showing the Adoration of the Magi (14th cent.). On the south side is the “Puerta de las Platerías” of the 12th cent., opening into the transept; it is decorated with statues of prophets and saints by a Toulouse sculptor of the late 12th cent. At the south-east corner rises the 72 m. clock-tower, begun in 1316 and completed in 1680; its great bell has a diameter of 2.50 m.
The east façade contains the “Puerta Santa,” opened only in Jubilee years, flanked by 24 statues