Holy Year in Santiago
It has become our yearly custom to spend the Day of St James in the
Saint’s own city. It is an unforgettable experience: a major cultural
and spiritual festival acted out on a unique and beautiful stage. 2010
is a special year, an Año Santo. Santiago de Compostela celebrates
Spain’s Patron Saint with a year of great events culminating,
on the day itself, 25th July, with a unique programme of festivities.
The King of Spain will there; the Prime Minister and the President of
Galicia will be there; and so shall we.
To mark this new Holy Year we have devised a tour which, among other
things, allows those clients who wish, the opportunity of walking several
sections of the way. This is not obligatory. The tour starts in the
lovely city of Burgos: one of the major stops on the Way of St James.
From the city of El Cid we strike due west to León, climbing
the mountains into Galicia and on to Santiago. Our three nights in Santiago
allow us to complete the route by journeying to the extreme western
tip of Spain at Finisterre.
DAYS 1 & 2: Flying into Madrid we drive north to pick up the Pilgrim
route in Burgos, the heart of Old Castile, whose great cathedral, monasteries
and monumental medieval quarter have changed little since the city was
identified by the 12th century guidebook, the Codex Calixtinus, as one
of the principal cities of the Pilgrimage.
DAY 3 & 4: Leaving Burgos we journey to Frómista. Our route
is the so-called Camino Francés, the principal road for pilgrims
coming through France. We pause in Frómista to visit the exquisite
Romanesque church of San Miguel and the road takes us across the Castilian
plain to León, a truly wonderful city, whose cathedral and monastery
of San Isidore, not to mention the remarkable Hospital of San Marcos,
are among the finest buildings on the entire journey.
DAYS 5, 6 & 7: The final momentous leg of the journey. From León
the road goes up through the wild beauty of the Maragatos, on to Ponferrada
and then over the stunning Cebreiro pass into Galicia, the land of St
James. One can but marvel at the staying power of the medieval traveller.
Today, of course, we have the A6 motorway that brings us more or less
to the door of our excellent hotel in the very heart of the Saint’s
city. Santiago is a great city and there will the opportunity of exploring
its remarkable artistic heritage but the focus of everyone’s attention
is the culmination of Holy Year starting with the spectacular fireworks
at midnight on the 24th and continuing with the ceremonies on Sunday
morning in the presence of the King of Spain.
This year we are staying on an extra day which will give us the opportunity
to make the final stage of the great pilgrimage: to the End of the Earth,
Finisterre. There we shall enjoy a unique sea-food lunch and then possibly
emulate the medieval pilgrim (and Brian Sewell) who burned his clothes
on the beach and ran naked into the Atlantic Ocean (this is not obligatory
either).
DAY 8: We take our return flight from A Coruña.
THIS TOUR DEPARTS: 20th July 2010
OUR HOTELS: our friends at the Hotel
Norte y Londres in Burgos and the Paris in León; in Santiago,
of course, the Virxe da Cerca beautifully located in a 17th-century
mansion.
NUMBER IN PARTY: 14 -18
THE PRICE OF THIS TOUR: £1590
(single supplement £160)