Santiago de Compostela

In the ninth century it was claimed that the remains of St James the Greater were found in Compostela. There are many apocryphal tales of St James in Spain so it would not have been odd to have suggested his remains were found there.

From that discovery, Compestela became a centre for pilgrimage and in the 15th Century the pope declared it one of the three great Christian pilgrimages along with Rome and Jerusalem.

Nowadays, between two and four thousand pilgrims arrive each day (except in winter). To qualify as a pilgrim you need to have walked 100km to reach Compestelaand the vast majority of people do just that. You don't have to walk it all in one go and many do it over several years, picking up where they left off each time

At the end you receive a certificate which is known as the 'compostela'. It's written in Latin, including your name!

Photos - the cathedral of Santiago

A wet Santiago this morning

The Botafumeiro in action at Mass. I learned afterwards that I was extremely lucky to see this. The Botafumeiro is one of the largest incense burners in the world. It gets up to 35mph at full speed!

The queue for massRead more