Pilgrims on the Way

The Cathedral of Santiago contains numerous chapels, some quite simple and some extravagant. I’m limiting myself to just five photos. I very much love this particular chapel, though it’s pretty obvious that the reredos could use a major restoration. I shudder to think how many layers of paint have been splopped up there by enthusiastic amateurs. Date: 03 May 2016 […]

The Cathedral of Santiago contains numerous chapels, some quite simple and some extravagant. I’m limiting myself to just five photos. This Gothic chapel with its marvelous wooden altar and reredos hearkens back to the original fabric of the Cathedral. It’s lovely, but I certainly hope somebody did something about the moss growing on the walls! I’d hate for it to […]

The Cathedral of Santiago contains numerous chapels, some quite simple and some extravagant. I’m limiting myself to just five photos. This is the reconciliation chapel, for those who prefer face-to-face rather than using one of the Cathedral’s numerous confessionals. The statue of Virgin and Child on the right looks for all the world to me like an image of Our […]

The Cathedral of Santiago contains numerous chapels, some quite simple and some extravagant. I’m limiting myself to just five photos. This first is one of my favourites. Simple and elegant. Clearly, the reredos are in need of restoration, but there’s something I find moving about this sort of shabby grandeur. Date: 03 May 2016 Place: Santiago de Compostela (Galicia, Spain)

The Botafumeiro is a thurible roughly the size of a child. During many of the Pilgrim Masses, it is swung overhead for the full length of the north and south transepts, which are really naves in themselves. This is the third Botafumeiro. The first was in use from the 13th century until it was pillaged by Napoleon’s armies in 1809. […]

A few days ago, when I was discussing the Apostle’s tomb, I talked about the worn steps. For more than a thousand years, pilgrims from all over the world have come here. Here’s what that looks like. Date: 03 May 2016 Place: Santiago de Compostela (Galicia, Spain)

These confessionals line the walls all along the perimeter of the Cathedral in Santiago. Most have a sign indicated what languages the priest will hear confessions in. This is a photo of the priest who heard my end-of-pilgrimage confession. After leaving the confessional, I turned around and snapped the photo. He was already hearing another confession. Date: 03 May 2016 […]

Alicia, Rebecca, and Francine in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, awaiting the start of the Pilgrims’ Mass. The thing about Santiago – and I’ve said this more eloquently in the past – is that it is a type of heaven. As you walk in that final day, you run into people you know, but whom you haven’t seen in […]

Every day at noon, Mass is celebrated in the Cathedral for the arriving pilgrims. Most usually, you will attend the day after you arrive due to simple logistics. Here you see the gathered pilgrims awaiting the start of the Mass in about ten minutes. On either side of the nave, you can see the the enormous pipes of the organ, […]

Continuing down yesterday’s street into the Praza da Quintana, we find the monastery of San Paio de Antealtares on our right. Originally built in the 9th Century, it was subsequently restored and expanded every century or two, culminating in the Baroque structure we see today. It still houses a cloistered monastery (the monks left in 1499, and it’s been nuns […]