{"id":3068,"date":"2012-10-15T09:00:13","date_gmt":"2012-10-15T08:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vintageholidays.co.uk\/?p=3068"},"modified":"2012-10-15T09:00:13","modified_gmt":"2012-10-15T08:00:13","slug":"the-way-of-st-james-santiago-an-iconic-symbol-of-religion-and-galicia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/the-way-of-st-james-santiago-an-iconic-symbol-of-religion-and-galicia\/","title":{"rendered":"The Way of St. James, Santiago \u2013 An iconic symbol of religion and Galicia"},"content":{"rendered":"

The north western \u2018communidad de Galicia\u2019 stands alone from Spain for many reasons \u2013 Mighty rivers rushing through the green valleys, framed by tumbling waterfalls, dense forests and lush meadows resemble the emerald vistas of Wales or even Ireland instead of the dry and arid landscapes Spain is synonymous with.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Cows munching heartily of the seemingly endless supply of nourishing grass with the bells that dangle around their necks tinkling in the brisk breeze, echoes the backdrop of Switzerland rather than Spain.<\/p>\n

The language in this north western point is notably different from the \u2018lisp-ness\u2019 of the south and seems to be an eclectic mix of Castilian, Catalonian and even Portuguese. But perhaps one of the most unique icons of this culturally autonomous region is the swathes of pilgrims that can be seen making their way on foot to the city of Santiago de Compostela.<\/p>\n

As you stand in awe at the magnificent cathedral of Santiago, the one thing that surpasses the splendour and brilliance of this huge, imposing, elaborate and ancient architectural marvel are the hordes of pilgrims literally falling at the cathedral\u2019s feet, ecstatic and triumphant after, for many, a month-long journey on foot to reach this profound and world-renowned religious landmark.<\/p>\n

If you arrive at Santiago de Compostela by car you are likely to notice regular signs of the \u2018Camino de Santiago\u2019, commonly known as \u2018The Way\u2019. The Way refers to the pilgrimage routes to Santiago, which start as far north as France or as far south as Madrid.<\/p>\n

This celebrated pilgrimage has existed for more than a thousand years. The legend goes that the remains of Jesus\u2019 apostle St. James were carried by boat from Jerusalem to Galicia and were buried at the Cathedral of Santiago.<\/p>\n

During medieval times the Way of St. James was one of the most important Christian pilgrimages. During the Middle Ages the route was travelled by literally thousands of pilgrims each year but faced considerable decline when the Black Death and political rest reared its head in the 16th<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n

With the throngs of people determinedly making their way to this inimitable Spanish city, throwing themselves on the ground with the same triumphant rapture an Olympic athlete who\u2019d just won gold might, it is safe to surmise that the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostelo has regained its former popularity.<\/p>\n

These resolute folk are an inspiring icon of the power of religion and the individuality of Galicia.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The north western \u2018communidad de Galicia\u2019 stands alone from Spain for many reasons \u2013 Mighty rivers rushing through the green valleys, framed by tumbling waterfalls, dense forests and lush meadows resemble the emerald vistas of Wales or even Ireland instead of the dry and arid landscapes Spain is synonymous with. Cows munching heartily of the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3069,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-things-to-do-in-galicia"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Way of St. James, Santiago \u2013 An iconic symbol of religion and Galicia - Vintage Travel - Blog Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The north western \u2018communidad de Galicia\u2019 stands alone from Spain for many reasons \u2013 Mighty rivers rushing through the green valleys, framed by tumbling\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/the-way-of-st-james-santiago-an-iconic-symbol-of-religion-and-galicia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Way of St. James, Santiago \u2013 An iconic symbol of religion and Galicia - Vintage Travel - Blog Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The north western \u2018communidad de Galicia\u2019 stands alone from Spain for many reasons \u2013 Mighty rivers rushing through the green valleys, framed by tumbling\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/the-way-of-st-james-santiago-an-iconic-symbol-of-religion-and-galicia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Vintage Travel - Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-10-15T08:00:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Santiago-vintage-travel.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"410\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"271\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Paul Handley\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/the-way-of-st-james-santiago-an-iconic-symbol-of-religion-and-galicia\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/the-way-of-st-james-santiago-an-iconic-symbol-of-religion-and-galicia\/\",\"name\":\"The Way of St. James, Santiago \u2013 An iconic symbol of religion and Galicia - Vintage Travel - Blog Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/the-way-of-st-james-santiago-an-iconic-symbol-of-religion-and-galicia\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/the-way-of-st-james-santiago-an-iconic-symbol-of-religion-and-galicia\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Santiago-vintage-travel.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-10-15T08:00:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ee51f2dd000c2846bade467a806ddc4c\"},\"description\":\"The north western \u2018communidad de Galicia\u2019 stands alone from Spain for many reasons \u2013 Mighty rivers rushing through the green valleys, framed by tumbling\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/the-way-of-st-james-santiago-an-iconic-symbol-of-religion-and-galicia\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/the-way-of-st-james-santiago-an-iconic-symbol-of-religion-and-galicia\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/the-way-of-st-james-santiago-an-iconic-symbol-of-religion-and-galicia\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Santiago-vintage-travel.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Santiago-vintage-travel.jpg\",\"width\":410,\"height\":271},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/the-way-of-st-james-santiago-an-iconic-symbol-of-religion-and-galicia\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Way of St. James, Santiago \u2013 An iconic symbol of religion and Galicia\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Vintage Travel - Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ee51f2dd000c2846bade467a806ddc4c\",\"name\":\"Paul Handley\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50c0c08a3773f5282b059f1a3ec361237cbffc908936d224b4d4bc2a419bf1ef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50c0c08a3773f5282b059f1a3ec361237cbffc908936d224b4d4bc2a419bf1ef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Paul Handley\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/author\/paul\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Way of St. James, Santiago \u2013 An iconic symbol of religion and Galicia - Vintage Travel - Blog Blog","description":"The north western \u2018communidad de Galicia\u2019 stands alone from Spain for many reasons \u2013 Mighty rivers rushing through the green valleys, framed by tumbling","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/the-way-of-st-james-santiago-an-iconic-symbol-of-religion-and-galicia\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Way of St. James, Santiago \u2013 An iconic symbol of religion and Galicia - Vintage Travel - Blog Blog","og_description":"The north western \u2018communidad de Galicia\u2019 stands alone from Spain for many reasons \u2013 Mighty rivers rushing through the green valleys, framed by tumbling","og_url":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/the-way-of-st-james-santiago-an-iconic-symbol-of-religion-and-galicia\/","og_site_name":"Vintage Travel - Blog","article_published_time":"2012-10-15T08:00:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":410,"height":271,"url":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Santiago-vintage-travel.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Paul Handley","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/the-way-of-st-james-santiago-an-iconic-symbol-of-religion-and-galicia\/","url":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/the-way-of-st-james-santiago-an-iconic-symbol-of-religion-and-galicia\/","name":"The Way of St. James, Santiago \u2013 An iconic symbol of religion and Galicia - Vintage Travel - Blog Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/the-way-of-st-james-santiago-an-iconic-symbol-of-religion-and-galicia\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/the-way-of-st-james-santiago-an-iconic-symbol-of-religion-and-galicia\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Santiago-vintage-travel.jpg","datePublished":"2012-10-15T08:00:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ee51f2dd000c2846bade467a806ddc4c"},"description":"The north western \u2018communidad de Galicia\u2019 stands alone from Spain for many reasons \u2013 Mighty rivers rushing through the green valleys, framed by tumbling","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/the-way-of-st-james-santiago-an-iconic-symbol-of-religion-and-galicia\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/the-way-of-st-james-santiago-an-iconic-symbol-of-religion-and-galicia\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/the-way-of-st-james-santiago-an-iconic-symbol-of-religion-and-galicia\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Santiago-vintage-travel.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Santiago-vintage-travel.jpg","width":410,"height":271},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/the-way-of-st-james-santiago-an-iconic-symbol-of-religion-and-galicia\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Way of St. James, Santiago \u2013 An iconic symbol of religion and Galicia"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/","name":"Vintage Travel - Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ee51f2dd000c2846bade467a806ddc4c","name":"Paul Handley","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50c0c08a3773f5282b059f1a3ec361237cbffc908936d224b4d4bc2a419bf1ef?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50c0c08a3773f5282b059f1a3ec361237cbffc908936d224b4d4bc2a419bf1ef?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Paul Handley"},"url":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/author\/paul\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3068\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vintagetravel.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}