| Santiago de Compostela is mainly a monumental town, a stony miracle which has been shaped around the Apostle St James's sepulchre along the centuries, and which has resulted in one of the most splendid and harmonic architectural ensembles in the world. Considered to be one of the three spiritual capitals of Christendom together with Rome and Jerusalem, from the Middle Ages it became the goal of religious pilgrimages, a phenomenon that would give birth to the pilgrims' Road to Santiago, the real spine of the art and the thought from which, as Goethe said, the idea of Europe would be born. Thanks to this road, Compostela spread its creations all over Europe in the same way that all cultural trends found their reflection in the city.
From the 12th century Santiago has been a Metropolitan See and holds the privilege of the Sacred Indulgence Year, which takes place when the Apostle St James's day (July 25th) coincides on a Sunday, that is to say, every 6, 5, 6 and 11 years. Compostela is also an age-old important cultural centre. Its five hundred-year-old University has over 35.000 students, a fact that grants the town a young character that results in the programming of innumerable cultural events all along the year, for which it has important modern infrastructures. But Compostellan cultural life is felt beyond official programming: hundreds of concerts, theatre productions, exhibitions and all kinds of events take place in alternative venues, in galleries and in the establishments where the lively night life of the city goes on.
Since 1980 Santiago de Compostela has been the political and administrative capital of the Autonomous Community of Galicia, a historical community that possesses its own language, Galician, and a thriving culture. The census counts 97.000 inhabitants, to which we must add the important university community that puts the actual population around 130.000 people. In present times, Compostela keeps on being an open city with the vocation of meeting point. Besides a goal for pilgrimage, it is a first-rate tourist centre, with an average of 3,5 million visitors a year, increasing up to seven millions in a Sacred Year. A meeting place for conference delegates from all over the world, it has very good communications including an International Airport, and modern and varied hotel services.
Due to its unparalleled cultural and architectural heritage, the city of Santiago de Compostela was declared Historical-Artistic Ensemble and National Monument in 1940. It was declared World Heritage of Mankind by the UNESCO in 1984, and owns numerous prizes and honours that recognize its work in the field of conservation and valuing of its rich patrimony: European Prize and Flag and Medal of the Parliamentary Assembly (Council of Europe), Premio Firenze (Commune di Firenze), Premio Real Fundación de Toledo, Premio Gubbio, Premio Europa Nostra, Europe Prize of Urbanism (European Commission), Premio Manuel de la Dehesa, European City of Culture of the year 2000 and Premio Nazionale Torre Guinigi (Italy). Besides, the pilgrims' Road to Santiago was declared First European Cultural Itinerary by the Council of Europe, and Cultural Heritage of Mankind by the UNESCO.
This architectural miracle of Compostela is the result of a historical process in which artists of each time went on completing and improving the already existent things, always maintaining an intense dialogue between new and old, between sacred and secular. The result is a unique city that shows the successive strata of its formation in a calculated and harmonic way, where each piece is articulated with the other ones to give a choral standing to the whole group. Santiago's fertile history appears in every street, square and monument. That is why we propose this trip round the history of Santiago de Compostela through its architecture, in search of knowing the city in its entire dimension. |
