Santiago and the Pilgrim Certificates
Whether you have one Camino under your belt or are a recidivist peregrino, there is always something special about getting your Compostela (certificate of completion) and Certificate of Distance at the Pilgrim Office in Santiago de Compostela. The office’s title in Spanish is the Oficina de acogida al peregrino — Office of Welcome to the…
¡Viva San Fermín! ¡Gora San Fermín!
July has just passed, and in northern Spain one of the most famous fiestas of all took place, that of San Fermín in Pamplona (6th–14th), where the enciero (‘running of the bulls’) every morning is covered by national and international TV. The celebration is ostensibly in honour of the city’s patron, San Fermín, a member…
Galician pallozas (round houses) and the Casa Consistorial (council building) of Lalín
It is easy to marvel at the great architectural jewels of the camino, like the miniature Romanesque temple of Santa María de Eunate in Navarra that echoes the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the splendid Gothic cathedral of Burgos whose Chapel of the Constables is a veritable cathedral within a cathedral, or Gaudi’s inimitable archbishop’s palace…
Domhnall O’Sullivan Beare (1560–1618) — Ireland’s first Knight of Santiago
The most famous military orders from the middle ages are undoubtedly the Knights Hospitaller (who still survive in the form of the Order of Malta) and the Knights Templar (who have no end of occult junk written about them). Within Spain a number of prominent orders were established, most notably those of Calatrava, Alcántara, Montesa…
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Denis Casey 