I always had the impression that the cathedral was the heart of Santiago and would dominate the city. We were therefore all very surprised that it took so long to catch our first glimpse of the famous towers. We seemed to have been walking through Santiago streets for ages before, all of a sudden, and completely unannounced, they suddenly appeared ...
I got very excited and even more so when, a few minutes later, it was there in front of me, in all it's splendour. What a facade! Despite the square being quite busy, I could have sat there in silence and admired it for ages.
However, the other chaps were keen to see inside so in we went. We weren't surprised by the rather ornate, and to us overdecorated, surrounds to the centrepiece of St James, but we were surprised that it was much smaller than it's outward facade implied.
There are 2 aspects to the cathedral that stay with you. Firstly, the botafumeiro; we talked about it at the time we were there, but none of us will every forget it's size, it's crazy swing and the ethereal singing from the amazing singing nun that accompanied it - simply awe inspiring.
The second lasting impression is that it is very much a shrine to St James. As a non Catholic, I kept wondering where Jesus was. St James was after all a disciple, not Jesus. I hunted around to see if I could find Jesus in the cathedral and I managed it, he was on the wall by one of the side doors. I still feel he should have far more prominence.
The cathedral takes on a whole dimension though, once you've picked up your Compostella. I was so pleased and proud when mine was awarded to me. There is no better place to have a picture taken with your compostela, than in front of the cathedral
I don't think I'd have felt the same way about the cathedral if I hadn't walked there. I can't imagine just flying into Santiago and going to visit. I guess I'm the lucky one, whose had the marvellous opportunity of walking there.
Lots of love Gio and my fellow camino bears xxx
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