Travel

Tony Clayton-Lea walks the way of St. James and soaks up the history and culture.

Santiago de Compostela

Santiago de Compostela has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984. Known as Galicia’s greenest city it has been described as a city hidden among gardens and parks. It is perhaps far better known as a place of pilgrimage – the discovery of the body of the Apostle James transformed Santiago de Compostela into the most important focus of religious worship in Europe during the Middle Ages.

These days, many thousands of people continue to walk the Camino de Santiago (the Way of St James). The wonderful Plaza de Obradoiro, the city’s centerpiece that rivals Brussels Grand Place for natural grandeur, is the culmination of this spiritually strengthening and physically arduous walk. As you stroll past the Cathedral you can see pilgrims shuffling back and forth, rucksacks and walking sticks to the fore.

It isn’t all about the pilgrimage; there is the opportunity to explore the culture and history of this fascinating part of the Iberian Peninsula. Enjoying an Atlantic climate with mild temperatures in winter that rarely fall below 7ºC and summer that rarely rise above 25ºC Santiago de Compostela enjoys a strategic location at the heart of Galicia. That said, similarities with Ireland regularly hit you in the face! When we were being given a tour of the hotel we couldn’t help but notice that the background music was a welter of what we presumed were uileann pipes. How nice of the hotel management, we thought, to specifically source Irish traditional music for us. Actually, what was being piped through the Tony Clayton-Lea hotel sound system was Galician traditional music – to say the resemblance was uncanny is understating it. So there’s that, and the fact that on average it rains at least one day out of every three. Just like Ireland, then – no wonder that every second shop sells umbrellas and wellies.

You might think your sense of direction will fail you as you negotiate the maze-like network of narrow streets in Old Town, but this part of the city is surprisingly cohesive – many streets intersect onto a series of squares (including Fonseca, San Martin, San Roque, Quintana), while you’ll never be stuck for something to do if you investigate the Old Town’s three main shopping streets of Rúa do Franco, Rúa do Vilar and Rúa Nova.

As for all the narrow, intersecting streets, you can guarantee that there will always be something of interest around the corner. Should you wish to venture outside Santiago de Compostela, there are several excursions you can choose. Nearby towns and cities include Padrón, Noia, A Coruña, Vigo and Finisterre y Costa do Morte, all of which can be booked via Turismo de Santiago Main Office.

By its inherent nature, the Old Town area is far more interesting. For starters, its streets are narrow, cobbled and winding. You won’t get lost, and to make it even more intriguing in the rambling from one street to the next you will most certainly discover the kinds of locally-operated shops that clearly haven’t changed in over 30/40 years. Prepare to wander in and out of many of them as you examine their touristy wares; some are interchangeable, but some more (featuring various bookshops, clothes shops and street stalls, including a dainty hippie market on Rúa Nova) are worth a serious mooch around in. Take your time here – while New Town collaborates with modernity, Old Town is grounded by and in history.

Final thoughts: Every time you board a flight back home you most likely ask yourself the same question – would you come back, and why? The answer for this travel writer is yes, and the reasons are these: Santiago de Compostela is a little treasure, an unspoiled, intimate city wherein a few very pleasant days and nights can be whiled away without damage to your sensibilities or your credit card. Can that be said about other European cities we could mention? Thought not!