Private tours in Oporto & surroundings
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Program
Santiago de Compostela, the capital of Galicia, a beautiful, green land. The region is famed for its fine seafood and its
excellent wines and the magnificent Cathedral attracts thousands of pilgrims who walk the Camino de Santiago.
The ancient centre of Santiago ranks among Spain's most stunningly beautiful cities. A superb ensemble of twisting
stone lanes, majestic squares and ancient churches, interspersed with hidden nooks and crannies, its medieval core
remaining almost entirely pedestrianized. Hewn from time-weathered granite, splashed with gold and silver lichen and
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sprouting vegetation from the unlikeliest crevices, the buildings and plazas, arcades and flagstones blend imperceptibly each into the next. Warrens of
honey-colored streets wind past beautiful monasteries and convents, culminating in the approach to the immense Praza do Obradoiro, flanked by the
magnificent Catedral.
Everything of interest lies within the densely packed historic core – the zona monumental – which takes fifteen minutes to cross on foot but several days
to explore thoroughly. Most commercial activity is a short way south, in the less appealing modern quarter, which is also where the students tend to live.
The ancient little town of Valença do Minho lies on commanding heights above the left bank of the River Minho, which here forms the frontier between
Spain and Portugal (frontier crossing), on the main road which links Santiago de Compostela to Porto.. Nowadays there is a lively crossborder traffic
between Valença do Minho and Tui on the other side of the river. The Spaniards come to Valença do Minho chiefly to purchase cloth goods, especially
terry toweling.
The old core of Valença do Minho - enclosed by the ramparts of its massive walls of the present Fortaleza, or fort, is 17th C., in the Vauban style - is
reached by just one bridge which crosses a wide ditch and followed by a long arched passage. From various points on the walls there are superb views over
the "new" town, some way below, the Minho valley and the mountains of Galicia.
Narrow alleys between whitewashed house crisscross the old town, with numerous historical and architectural attractions, and this is where the textile
shops can be found.
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In the Northwest of Spain, in the Celtic and green Galicia, tradition tells that there was the Apostle Santiago, brother of Juan
the Evangelist. When he returned to Palestine, in the year 44, it was tortured and beheaded by Herodes Agripa, and he
prohibited that Santiago would be buried. However their pupils, secretly, during the night, they transferred his body to the
seashore, where they found a boat prepared to navigate but without crew. They deposited the apostle's body in a marble
sepulchre, which would arrive after its marine voyage, to river Ulla up to the Roman port of Flavia, in the Galician coast, the
capital of the Roman Galicia.
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There they buried his body in a compostum or cemetery in the near forest of Liberum Donum, where they built a marble altar. In the year 813, the eremita
Pelayo heard prays and songs in the place. Based on this event he called the place Campus Stellae, or Field of the Star, where the current name of
Compostela comes from. King Alfonso II proclaimed the apostle Santiago patron saint of the Kingdom, building a sanctuary there, that later would end up
as being the Cathedral. From then on, miracles and appearances would take place there, giving place to numerous histories and legends to infuse the
warriors that fought against the advances of Al-Andalus and to the pilgrims that little by little went the way to Santiago. From the XI century onwards,
Santiago exercised a strong attraction on the European Christianity and it was a center of pilgrimage, to which kings, princes and saints went to. In the XII
and XIII centuries, the city reached its maximum splendour. The Pope Calixto II granted to the Church Compostelana the Full Jubilee of the Holy Year and
Alejandro III declared it perpetual, becoming Santiago of Compostela “Saint City”, next to Jerusalem and Rome. The Holy Year takes place every time that
the Apostle's festivity, july 25th, falls on Sunday. Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia. Located in the northwest
region of Spain in the Province of A Coruña. The city's cathedral is the destination of the important medieval pilgrimage route, the Way of St James (in
Spanish the Camino de Santiago). Per year, over 100,000 pilgrims on foot, bicycle, donkey, or horseback come from over a 100 countries to claim their
certificate called a 'compostela', based on their pilgrim passport called a 'credencial', filled with stamps from the towns they passed along the route. The
credencial proves they have followed the route formally recognized by the "Pilgrim Association of St. James." One of the popular routes is the Portuguese
route or 'Camino Portugués' (starts at Oporto and continues northwards crossing the rivers Lima and Minho where it enters Spain. Still heading north, the
river Ulla is crossed at Padron before arriving at Santiago). The Cathedral of Santiago is the end of the pilgrim's journey and its monumentality is worthy
of such a deed. It is a key Romanesque work in which numerous architectonic styles converge, started in 1075. Santiago de Compostela’s Old Quarter is
often styled a ‘living museum’, with the Cathedral and other jewels placed in a magnificent setting of winding paved and arcaded streets, granite walls and
smaller monuments that create a superb ambience. The Cathedral itself is flanked by several celebrated squares – Praza do Obradoiro, Praza das
Praterias, Praza da Quintana and Praza da Inmaculada. Picturesque avenues and alleys radiate out from this centre, around which the city developed, to
the other squares and sights of the Old Quarter – the Convento de San Francisco, the University and the Praza de Cervantes.
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