The Cathedral in Santiago

Monday, March 23, was the first day we attended Rosalía de Castro School.  We started with a welcome in the principal's office.

Rosalía de Castro prides itself on valuing "arts and letters."  Monday was "Poetry Day," and Galician students visited their teachers' offices to give them small scrolls onto which they had copied a favorite poem.  Also, each year the school recognizes an international author, who then visits the school to accept the award.

After students attended a morning class, we went to the big Cathedral of Santiago, the final resting place of the remains of Spain's patron saint, the Apostle St. James.  During a tour on the rooftops, mostly in Spanish, the guide told us some of the history of the Cathedral, on which construction began in the 800's, and of the city of Santiago.  Students learned about the different architectural styles used over centuries of construction and renovation:  Romanesque, Gothic, and Baroque.  Galicia's extremely wet climate means that the various towers and facades of the Cathedral must be frequently cleaned and restored.

Students learned that from the Middle Ages through today, pilgrims have walked "El Camino," or the Way of St. James to visit the Cathedral and be forgiven for their sins.  There are several "Caminos" throughout Spain that all lead to Santiago, but on the most famous one, pilgrims start in southern France.  Traditionally, after the harrowing journey on which they faced hunger, disease, and bandits, pilgrims bathed in a fountain in one of the squares and burned their traveling clothes.  Nowadays, in order to get a certificate for traveling the Camino, pilgrims must get a passport stamped along the route of either 100 km on foot or 200 km by bicycle or horse.