The story of this place
In the 9th century a hermit followed a field of stars—campus stellae—to what was declared the tomb of the apostle James, and a shrine rose that became medieval Europe's third great pilgrimage after Jerusalem and Rome. The Romanesque cathedral, consecrated in 1211, greets pilgrims with the Pórtico da Gloria, a portal of 200 sculpted figures carved by Master Mateo around 1188. To clear the stench of travel-worn crowds, a 53-kilogram silver censer called the Botafumeiro is swung on ropes by eight men, arcing to near-ceiling height at 68 km/h. For over a thousand years, walkers on the Camino de Santiago have ended their journeys at this altar.