La Coruna, Spain

May 22^nd, 2024

With all of the partying last night, getting up early for our tour was a bit of a challenge.

We had a private tour to Santiago de Compostela.

I had really been looking forward to this tour. The highlight of the tour is visiting the tomb of St James in the cathedral. I wasn’t so sure about being among the thousands of pilgrims who visit the tomb daily, but it really was an opportunity not to be missed.

The Camino de Santiago, or Way of St James, is one of the major world pilgrimages. Although it started as a faith based pilgrimage several centuries ago, over the years it has also become a spiritual journey for many, including those who are not involved in organized religion. There are routes to get there from all over Europe, and even from North Africa.

I first heard about the pilgrimage when I lived in Malta. The route in Malta starts at St Paul’s Grotto, and there is a 20 mile walk to the dock in Valetta. The rest of the journey involved sailing to Sicily and Sardinia, finally arriving in Barcelona. From Barcelona it is walking all the way to Santiago de Compostela. Apparently a lot of the pilgrims got seasick on the way from Malta to Sicily so they took the next boat back to Malta, not wanting to risk the sea passages to Sardinia and Barcelona.

Luckily most of the pilgrims’ routes do not involve sea travel, but there is certainly a lot of walking involved.

We walked in the rain to our waiting mini bus, and our tour guide, Maria, told us all about La Coruna and the sites we were passing through on our 75-minute drive to Santiago de Compostela.

When we arrived, we walked through the streets of the town to the main square, the Plaza de Obradoiro. This is where the pilgrimage officially ends, and it was populated by jubilant, but weary pilgrims, having finally completed the Camino de Santiago.

The buildings surrounding the square are an interesting mixture of Baroque, Renaissance, Gothic, and Neoclassical architecture. The 4 buildings represent the 4 powers of the city

The west façade of the Cathedral dominates the square, and represents the church.

On the north is the Hostal dos Reis Catolicos where the pilgrims could rest (hospitality)

To the east is the Pazo de Roxoi (the government)

And to the south is the Colexio do San Xerome (the university)

The entrance to the cathedral is through the south door, and you go thought the Portico da Gloria to get there.

I was surprised to see a man playing a bagpipe. Apparently, the local people are very proud of their Celtic heritage, and bagpipes are played everywhere. One difference to the traditional Scottish bagpipe is that they only have one pipe, as opposed to Scottish bagpipes which have 3. The lack of the 2 pipes did not seem to make any difference in the sound to the untrained ear.

After going past the monastery of San Martino Pinario, the second largest monastery in Spain, you finally get to the entrance door to the cathedral.

The stone carvings in the façade are beautiful, and quite remarkable in view of how many centuries ago the work was done.

The interior of the cathedral is spectacular with its soaring columns and beautiful arches.

Maria gave an explanation about an incense burner that fits under the dome of the church, but I really couldn’t understand exactly what that was all about. On the bus back to the ship, before I fell asleep, I read up all about it.

The incense burner is called the Botafumerio and it is huge. People have been swinging it around since the 12^th century, and when it is in full flight it fills the whole cathedral with smoke. Apparently centuries ago when the pilgrims arrived in the cathedral for mass they had not bathed for quite some time, so this made things a bit more pleasant for the hordes gathered there. It was also thought to protect against epidemics.

It is now only used at certain masses on special days of the year, but for about 450 Euros you can book it for use on any day you would like it.

The current Botafumeiro dates back to 1851, and it’s made of silver-plated brass, weighing 53kgs when empty and up to 10 kgs more when full. Eight men, called Tiraboleiros, are needed to operate the Botafumeiro.

After being filled with incense and coal by the Tiraboleiros, the  Botafumeiro is tied to a rope hanging by the altar and set in motion with great precision, forming a 65-meter-long arched trajectory along the cathedral. In only a minute and a half, the Botafumeiro reaches 68km per hour.

Over the years there have been several accidents, but I could not find any records of fatalities. The whole thing sounded very dangerous to me, especially if the supporting ropes were frayed. I was wondering what health and safety would think about it.

St James tomb is behind the altar and we joined a long queue that snaked around the cathedral so that we too could see it, even though we had not walked for hundreds of miles, having only taken a mini bus from La Coruna.

From the queue we had a good look at the ornate gold leaf and silver altar.

We finally arrived at the tomb. We weren’t allowed to take any photos. We could just look and then move on. Still, at least we had seen it.

After seeing the tomb, you climb a series of uneven steps which get you behind the statue of St James in the altar. From there you can give him a big hug from behind. I decided not to hug him, and just smiled at him, and then attempted to negotiate the stairs again.

The cathedral has 2 huge organs on either side of the aisle. They have pipes projecting out horizontally, which made it look like there were a series of crocodiles from where I was standing.

Time was fleeting, so we were rushed out of the cathedral and walked past the reliquary. Well this was spectacular, one of the best I have ever seen. I was enchanted. I had to stop and see what it was all about.

There is a huge altarpiece containing a number of valuable carvings, and around seventy relics, some of which were stolen from other holy places. Apparently trafficking in saints’ remains was a common practice and lucrative business for Medieval churches. I remember reading somewhere that the church was trying to stop the sale of saints’ relics on eBay, so obviously the practice still goes on.

Amongst the relics are pieces from the Virgin Mary’s clothing, bones of eight of the eleven thousand virgins, the throats of saints, a tooth of St. Theresa’s, and an endless list of others. The most interesting is perhaps the reliquary bust with the skull of St. James the lesser, which is a main feature of the altar.

Alas, I couldn’t stay and study it more, our group had moved out into the cloisters and were admiring the 3 bells and the huge granite basin there.

Then it was time for lunch. Our tour flyer described it as a 4 course lunch, so when plates of cold meats and cheeses arrived I was careful not to eat too much. However, it turned out that the plates of cold meats and cheeses were the 4 course lunch. Oh well, its not like we are not being fed enough on the ship, a light lunch was probably not a bad thing, and it did sustain us for the drive back to the ship.

I watched the sail away from the hot tub.

This is certainly an excellent way to relax after hours walking around and sitting in a bus. There may be some design faults on Queen Anne, but the hot tubs on the Terrace are a huge success as far as I am concerned.

We had drinks in the chart room this evening, and I was thrilled to see the return of crisps to all of the bars. Life is good.