ven before the discovery of the remains
of the Apostle Saint James, crowds of
people made the route that goes to the
Finis Terri. There they felt that "religious
terror" when, as happened to the
Roman legionary Decimo July Brutus, they
saw the Sun sunken in the waters of the
ocean. He insisted that, when this happened,
there was a hissing sound similar to the
one iron makes when it is tempered in
the forge.
Some people maintain that making the route
to Finis Terrae was part of the rites
of the "Ancient Religion". But
the "miraculous arrival" of
the corpse of the Apostle Saint James
is the origin of the pilgrimage that we
know today. Beheaded in Palestine in the
year 42 A.D., he finally arrives in Galicia.
The legend says that his disciples stole
their master's corpse and put it on board
a ship without a crew, or better, with
a crew of Angels. Seven days after their
departure they landed at the mouth of
the River Ulla in Galicia. Once there,
the disciples had serious problems burying
their Master caused by Queen Lupa and
especially by King Duyo a confessed enemy
of Christianity. After a series of miraculous
happenings, the Apostle was buried in
the place that would later become the
town of Santiago an Queen Lupa converted
to Christianity.
The discovery of the Tomb of the Apostle
St. James the Greater at the beginning
of the IXth century soon brought about
a stream of travellers making the pilgrimage
to the site, which is today the Galician
city of Santiago de Compostela. This abundant
influx of pilgrims from a myriad of places
in Europe helped to form a complex network
of itineraries, known together as the
Way of St. James or the Ruta Jacobea.
The
stocks of Mencia in Galicia are coming
from France across the Way French to Compostela.
The heyday of the pilgrimages took place
between the XI, XII and XIIIth centuries
with the granting of specific spiritual
indulgences. This trend, however, has
endured to a greater or lesser extent
over the course of the centuries.
From the middle of the
XXth century, the Way of St. James
has been experiencing an international
rebirth, which combines its spiritual
and socio-cultural tradition with its
ability to attract the tourist and it
comes across as a new meeting place open
to all kinds of people and cultures.
