SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELLA, a town of Spain, Galicia, in the province and 32 miles S. of Coruña, occupying an uneven irregular situation, encircled by hills, from which may be obtained picturesque views over the town and neighbourhood. The climate of the place is cold and damp, and the weather almost invariably rainy; but this humidity favours the vegetation of the country, so that the place is well supplied with fruit and vegetables. The town is mostly built of granite, and has a sombre appearance; the public places are embellished with numerous fountains. Many of the streets radiate in different directions from the cathedral, while those of a better class run parallel to one another. The most important building in the place is the cathedral, built about 1082, on the site of a former one. The external appearance has been injured by subsequent additions, which have been built against the outer walls, but which
have served to protect them from the effects of the damp climate. On each of its sides is a square formed by various ecclesiastical edifices. The interior is impressive, with its long lofty nave, its dim religious light, heightening the effect of the illuminated high altar, surmounted by the image of St. James. This image, no way remarkable for beauty, is an object of great reverence, and its back between the shoulders is kissed by all the pilgrims to the shrine. The most remarkable objects in the cathedral are the fine dome, two bronze pulpits in the choir, and the numerous monuments, some of them much defaced. Some of the other churches in the town are handsome; the ancient large and wealthy Benedictine convent of St. Martin is now a barrack; the university, founded in 1532, and having 1030 students in 1845, has a heavy Ionic front and a handsome Doric quadrangle. The principal manufactures of Santiago are those of linen cloth and silk stockings; there is an active trade in rosaries and saints' images. The city owes its origin and importance entirely to the saint whose name it bears. He, according to the legend, after his decapitation at Jerusalem, conveyed himself into a boat and made a remarkably quick passage in seven days to Padron, a small seaport near Santiago. The body, however, lay unnoticed and unknown for nearly 800 years, until the appearance of heavenly lights over the spot pointed out its resting-place. Hence the epithet of Compostella (Campus stellar), added to the name of the town. The bones were removed to Santiago in 829; and the first cathedral built over it in 874 became a great centre of pilgrimage, as the Spaniards were forbidden by the Pope to go as crusaders to Jerusalem as long as the Moors were in their own land. In 997, Al Mansur penetrated as far as Santiago, and destroyed the whole place except the saint's tomb; and when the new cathedral was erected, the sacred bones were for security built into the foundation. After the time of the Reformation, the pilgrims to Santiago diminished very much in number, and the town fell into decay. It now presents a very melancholy appearance; its numerous convents suppressed and fast falling into ruins. Pop. 22,729.