It’s that time of year again. In Spain, practically every day is the “feast day” of at least one Catholic saint. But the most famous of all is today, the Feast of Santiago (St. James the Greater), a disciple of Jesus Christ whose relics after his martyrdom tradition says were transported to Galicia (today, northwest Spain). Entombed and forgotten, they were rediscovered in the early 9th century and a cathedral was built around them, around which grew the city of Santiago de Compostela, becoming one of Christendom’s foremost pilgrimage sites, at the end of the Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James). Today on the Feast of St. James, there’s much hoopla throughout this majestic city, but throughout the year thousands of people spend weeks hiking all or just the Spanish part of this remarkable itinerary through beautiful countryside and historic towns and cities.

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