How did a tomb in Galicia become the tomb of St James?
The tomb of St James
El sepulcro del apóstol Santiago
between 820 and 830. Some time around 830 (the exact year is not known) Theodemir, bishop of Iria Flavia in Galicia, declared that a Roman-era tomb found in a field was the grave…
Where: Spain, Galicia, Santiago de Compostela
What happened
Some time around 830 (the exact year is not known) Theodemir, bishop of Iria Flavia in Galicia, declared that a Roman-era tomb found in a field was the grave of the apostle James, Santiago in Spanish. King Alfonso II of Asturias came to see it and had a church built over it. Whether James is really buried there cannot be proved; the tradition says his disciples brought his body by boat from Jerusalem. The town that grew up, Santiago de Compostela, became one of the great pilgrim destinations of medieval Europe, with Rome and Jerusalem, and hundreds of thousands of people now walk the Way of St James every year.
Say it
Muchos peregrinos caminan hasta Santiago de Compostela.
Many pilgrims walk to Santiago de Compostela.
Why it matters
The Camino brought French and other European pilgrims, words and styles into the Christian north for centuries, and Santiago remains Spain's patron saint and one of its most spoken place names.
There today
- See
- You can visit the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, which stands over the tomb that Alfonso II marked with a church.
- Do
- You can walk the last stretch of the Way of St James into the city: the last hundred kilometres on foot earn the Compostela certificate. See the Camino.
Read about it
Culture
Connected
- Pelayo at Covadonga (between 718 and 722)
- Pelayo at Covadonga (between 718 and 722)
- Before: The Great Mosque of Córdoba is begun
- After: The Caliphate of Córdoba
Sources
- The Cathedral — Catedral de Santiago de Compostela
- Bones discovered in Spanish cave most likely belong to famed priest who created popular pilgrimage — NBC News / Reuters, on a study in Antiquity