SPAIN'S JERUSALEM
"Now about that time Herod the King put forth his hand to afflict
certain of the church. And he killed James the brother of John with
the sword."
That is the Gospel story of the death of St. James the Greater, son
of Zebedee, in whose memory the city of Santiago was founded, and
who remains the patron saint of Spain's Jerusalem. Tradition has it
that St. James journeyed through Spain and preached the Gospel; while
another story states that after he was beheaded by Herod his remains
were taken to Galicia, and buried at the place on which the cathedral
of Santiago stands.
The saint's sepulchre was not known till the ninth century, when
it was revealed to a pious bishop, Theodomir of Iria, by a star
of wondrous brilliance. At that time Santiago did not exist; but
the marvel of the prelate's discovery spread throughout Spain, and
wrought so powerfully upon the reigning monarch, Alonso II., that
he commanded the immediate building of a chapel on the site of the
grave. The structure was begun, but so amazing was the enthusiasm
with which the holy discovery was hailed that the original design
of a mere chapel developed into a scheme for a cathedral, and the
building was consecrated at the end of the ninth century.
News travelled laggardly in those far-distant days, yet while
the cathedral was being built devout believers everywhere became
acquainted with the tidings of the bishop's vision, and pilgrims
hastened to pay tribute to the holy tomb. From every country in
Europe the faithful travelled by horse or on foot, many of them
spending months on the journey. Countless thousands worshipped at the
shrine and returned to their homes; unnumbered thousands perished on
the way to Santiago or back; while multitudes who reached the holy
city never left it, for accommodation was limited, and pestilence
swept off the pilgrims ruthlessly. At times the crowds were so
enormous that the cathedral had to remain open day and night, so that
they could find resting-places on its extensive floors. The primitive
medical and sanitary appliances and remedies of the day were used to
ward off disease, and a great censer was kept burning to purify the
vitiated air of the cathedral.
Santiago is a city of romance, and my own first sight of it was
memorable. A night-watchman, cloaked and leaning on his gleaming
pike, watched us as we stepped from the rickety diligence which
had jolted us from the railway station to the Hotel Suizo, near
the cathedral, and within a stone's throw of the university. It
was nearly midnight, and there was driving rain, which ran in
torrents down the crooked, narrow, flagged thoroughfares which
serve as streets. At the station the oil-lamps dimly shone on the
swimming platforms and gloomily illuminated the big bare room in
which a statuesque pair of Civil Guards leaned on their rifles and
the Customs officers and passengers mixed confusedly. There was an
emigrant returned from South America with a ponderous trunk to open
and examine. When it was passed the huge box was hoisted on to the
head of a woman, and the emigrant's wife having been loaded up with
miscellaneous articles, the triumphant man sallied forth, bearing no
heavier burden than his umbrella.
From the oil-lamped station we drove into the mediæval streets, lit
by electricity, and as the bells began to chime the midnight hour
the _sereno_ strolled away on his rounds and the diligence disgorged
the travellers, peasants, Civil Guards, and human oddments, who
had clambered into and outside it. Bells were chiming as I entered
Santiago; they rang, it seemed, throughout the night, and at
daybreak clanged to summon worshippers to early Mass. The population
numbers less than thirty thousand, yet there are forty-six churches,
containing nearly three hundred altars, with thirty-six religious and
kindred institutions. If priests and churches make a city good, then
Santiago must be a veritable holy of holies.
There are many wonderful and fascinating buildings in this Jerusalem
of Spain, but the glory of them all is that vast structure whose
twin towers rise serenely to the blue sky, and whose golden crosses
burn and glitter in the sunshine. Not an hour or a day, but many
hours and many days must be spent in the majestic minster before
its beauties can be adequately realised. Many books and innumerable
articles have been written about it, but the greatest book of all is
that marvellous work entitled "Historia de la Santa A. M. Iglesia de
Compostela." The author is a canon, Antonio López Ferreiro, who has
already produced thirteen volumes of his monumental undertaking, and
is to complete his task with a fourteenth. A dozen years will have
been needed for the publication, which will surely almost rank in
time to come with Matteo's masterpiece, the Gate of Glory.
[Illustration: ONE OF SANTIAGO'S TWIN TOWERS]
You enter the cathedral and look around in the casual manner of the
visitor who is pressed for time and has a long programme to get
through before he starts on the home track; and not even that amazing
Gate of Glory which stands unrivalled in Christendom may call for
more than passing notice. You may have spent an hour in the building,
and leave it thinking that you have seen all, and you wander through
the quaint, narrow, twisted streets, gazing at the little shops,
which are only travesties of business places; at the women, who
are working ceaselessly, especially at the wells, drawing water;
at the men and boys who mingle, and contrast the present with
the passing, the student and the peasant. You visit that particular
_café_ which, in the afternoon, is infested by students from the
university when the strain of mental toil is over, and may count a
hundred of them, reckless, rowdy, and full of life and carelessness,
all playing dominoes, thudding the bone pieces on the marble-topped
tables like little sledge-hammers working, and filling the
tobacco-laden air with deafening cries. If the students in after-life
put into legal and medical work anything approaching the energy they
infuse into pastime, then fortunate indeed will be their patients
and clients. At eventide the students become romantic and conduct
their little love affairs, and occasionally even in the unemotional
morning a young man may be seen hovering in the neighbourhood of his
adored one's dwelling. I saw a youth at daybreak, outside my hotel,
feverishly pacing the flags. He wore patent leather boots, very
tight and small, and a large-checked overcoat, a flagrant tie and a
ridiculous little bowler hat. For an hour he watched and waited; then
from an upper window a female voice was heard, and the youth's face
assumed a fatuously rapturous expression. A few minutes afterwards
the owner of the voice descended, accompanied by her parents, at
the sight of whom the youth scuttled round the corner, for the
better-class young ladies in Galicia are closely guarded when in
public.
You leave the _café_ and drift, and instinctively you have made your
way again to the cathedral precincts, gazing at the windows of the
box-like shops in the building itself, in which the silversmiths ply
their craftsmanship and produce, amongst other things, vast numbers
of tiny silver scallop-shells, one at least of which, obtainable
for a few coppers, the good pilgrim takes away from Santiago.
Unconsciously you re-enter the cathedral, and are wandering about
the vast incense-smelling nave and transepts. Even to the unguided
visitor there is much to see, while the skilfully piloted stranger
may leisurely examine priceless relics and treasures and behold many
marvellous spectacles. I had the good fortune to be shown round the
cathedral during two protracted visits by Canon Leopoldo Eijo Garay,
and to have the precious relics shown and explained by Canon Martin,
who has charge of the treasury.
There is the beautiful Biblioteca, with its ceiling so cunningly and
adroitly wrought in stone and painted and gilded that it is difficult
to believe that the figures and ornamentation are not plaster. The
present King of Spain himself, when visiting the apartment, declared
his disbelief that the decoration was carved from solid stone, and
there is pointed out a small patch of bare stonework from which the
colouring was rubbed to prove to his Majesty that he was mistaken.
You may enter a loft where many old and modern tapestries are
hung to keep them from the ravages of moths and atmosphere; go to
another loft in which are stored the grotesque giants' heads used
in the procession of St. James, carefully covered to preserve them
from dust, and inspect the large room in which the tapestries and
trimmings of the cathedral are kept in order and repair. In another
part of the cathedral, in the nave, near the treasury, is a cupboard
in which clerical vestments are kept drawn on frames--vestments that
look like priceless cloth of gold. Also to be seen are the ponderous
silver maces which are carried at the ceremonies in the minster, and
the giant censer in its sentry-box-like case. If you are favoured you
may lift the maces and try to raise the top of the censer--and may
succeed in moving the silver mass a few inches from its base.
In a dimly lighted room the treasure of the cathedral is kept and
Kings of Spain are buried. With cunningly devised keys the doors
are unlocked, and the canon explains the meaning of the silver and
gold possessions, the very extent of which is bewildering. Here are
gifts from sovereigns and potentates, each a wonder in itself, yet
so grouped as to form a perfectly harmonious whole. Centuries of
religious devotion are represented in this one corner of the mighty
edifice, and it would be hard to estimate more than approximately
what is the value of the treasure, though an expert might guess at
the metals' intrinsic worth.
A small Maltese cross in the centre of the ornaments on the wall
which faces the door contains a piece of the true Cross, while above
it is a thorn from the Saviour's Crucifixion Crown. Golden images
and goblets, carvings, pictures, fading gorgeous cushions, made by
royal and noble hands, with many other gifts in various form to the
Holy Mother Church from her sons and daughters, are here, and the eye
almost fails to take in what the mind needs time to comprehend. More
than once the treasury has been raided by invaders; and within the
last two or three years sacrilegious hands have been laid on one or
two of the priceless possessions of the cathedral, but the treasury
is now specially protected, and an ingenious clock is used to record
the movements of the watchmen who are responsible for the safety of
the relics and riches. It is said that the whereabouts of some of the
lost treasures are known, and that they are not far from America.
From the treasury one may go to the high altar, above which is the
gorgeous effigy of St. James, the object of the last attention of the
Santiago pilgrims. The whole of the massive altar decoration is solid
silver, wrought in Salamanca, and the candlesticks and ornaments
around are of the same metal, which has been used with the lavishness
of iron. In the centre is a small image of the Virgin, with a halo of
precious stones, and many other gems flash as a lighted candle at the
end of a long stick is held out so that they may be seen.
Eleven hundred pounds' weight of solid pure silver--considerably
more than half a ton--was used by Salamanca craftsmen to make the
wondrous work amidst which the saint sits enshrined. At this high
altar no cleric below the rank of bishop may celebrate Mass, except
the canons of the cathedral, without special power being granted
by the Pope. Changes are being made, even in romantic, mediæval
Santiago, and it is hoped that something like five hundred thousand
pesetas will be raised to carry out alterations in the cathedral.
The figure of St. James adorns the centre of the altar, with the
right hand pointing to that sacred little vault below in which
reposes the great silver casket containing the ashes of the Apostle;
and behind him is an unassuming box in which the bones were hidden
when Drake swooped down on Santiago from the coast. The original
figure was made in the thirteenth century, and there it is still,
but with a massive silver garment clothing it, a garment wrought
in modern times by cunning craftsmen of Madrid. Ford describes the
original figure as being of stone, but my own impression on feeling
it, which I did after the ponderous silver back had been pulled away
on its castors, was that the material is wood.
At the back of the Apostle is a little platform, which is approached
by a few steps on each side. Up these staircases the pilgrims walk,
and, placing their hands on the shoulders of the silver cape, kiss
the back of it--the gem-studded _esclavina_--and return to the floor
of the cathedral. Men and women of all ranks and countries have
visited that tiny platform and leaned forward for a salutation,
and doubtless multitudes will journey thither still. It may be
that a band of the well-to-do classes will visit the figure in the
company, as I saw them, of peasants who come into Santiago and make
their osculation and depart. These peasants, being able to visit the
sanctuary often, do not trouble to acquire and take away that coveted
document which it is the wish of all true pilgrims to possess--the
_compostela_. This is a parchmenty form, containing an ornamental
border, headed by a figure of a pilgrim and flanked by columns of
scallop-shells. The border encloses a printed Latin declaration
to the effect that the pilgrim whose name is written in has duly
made the pilgrimage and has received the certificate, after making
confession and receiving communion. The certificate is signed by a
canon, with the date of the month and the year of the pilgrimage, and
is stamped with a blue seal. The acquisition of it crowns the object
of the journey to the holy city of Galicia, and the _compostela_
remains as evidence that he has performed a ceremony which in other
days was almost as essential as legal documents in proving a right to
property.
[Illustration: RUA DEL VILLAR, SANTIAGO]
Two little metal doors behind the altar lead up to the platform;
another, hidden in the gloom near them, gives access to that dark
chamber in which the faithful pray and worship at St. James's
holy shrine, and where the cardinal conducts his own devotions.
Electricity has been installed in the vault, but there are
days--amongst them Sundays--when it is not used, and other days
when the current fails to work, and at these times candles are
employed to light the cavern-like apartment, into which the sunshine
never penetrates. A few steps downwards, a few more along the narrow
stone passage, a turn to the right, and two or there more steps--then
you are in the cold and tiny chamber which contains the famous silver
coffin.
The Apostle's sepulchre is about three feet long and two feet wide
and the same in depth, though the top slopes somewhat after the
manner of a roof. It is purely modern work, and was designed and made
in the cathedral by an expert whose son is still associated with the
building. There are figures round the sides of the urn, beautifully
wrought images something like a foot in height, copied from the
finest details in the Gate of Glory.
The dim light of the candles reveals other relics in this sacred
spot--amongst them Roman mosaics and various ancient fragments in
glass cases. The original walls of the vault, dating from the first
century, are visible. In some places the bricks and stones have been
faced with granite, but those that are uncovered show little traces
of the effects of the two thousand years which have passed since they
were built upon each other.
Just as you instinctively return to the cathedral, so, when you are
in it, you wander to the Gate of Glory and begin to realise why
Santiagoans claim that this masterpiece is peerless of its kind.
The sculptor who created it spent twenty years in carrying out his
purpose. During those two decades--1168-1188--Maestro Matteo wrought
in stone that wondrous work of which a replica exists in South
Kensington Museum. Unfortunately the Gate of Glory at Santiago is
so placed that its real significance and majesty are not apparent
at a glance, because the portico is within the building itself,
standing back a little distance from the main entrance, which is
opened only for important ceremonials. Nor can the replica be seen
to full advantage in its present position. Other architectural works
are crowded up to it, and there is no point from which the complete
copy can be viewed. Admirable though the replica is, yet it falls
far short of the original in beauty, because it is painted a dirty
drab, while the Gate itself still bears much of the original rich
colour with which it was decorated. The replica was acquired in
1866 at a cost of £2300, and now that there is so much room in the
magnificent new Museum no time should be lost in removing the work.
The reproduction would form a noble decoration for one of the light
and splendid galleries of the extension at South Kensington.
The Gate of Glory consists of three arches, the centre one of which
gives the title to the whole--La Gloria. Twice life-size, the
Redeemer is seated in the centre of the arch, with St. James below
Him, seated also, and around Him are the Evangelists and elders and
angels, the whole being symbolic of the Last Judgment and the victory
of virtue over vice. It is not so much the subject as the work
itself which will awe and fascinate the visitor: there is so much
prodigality of labour, such lavishness of design, such an amazing
whole contained in so limited a space. The wondrous and magnificent
group over the central arch would in itself make Santiago's Gate of
Glory unrivalled amongst kindred masterpieces.
Seven hundred years have passed since Matteo finished his immortal
work, yet in many ways that work appears as perfect now as it was
when he put down his tools for the last time and gazed upon that
figure of himself which kneels and looks towards the dim interior of
the minster, as if in thankfulness for the completion of his task.
In the exquisite central shaft of the Gate there are some depressions
into which the extended thumb and fingers of one's right hand will
fit. I was told that these indentations had been worn into the stone
through contact with the hands of countless pilgrims who believed
that as a result they would be physically strong for life; and that
another performance which has been extensively practised is to place
one's head on that of Matteo's figure; the faithful being satisfied
that thenceforward they will be spared numerous mental afflictions.
As there may be hidden virtues in the superstitions I went through
both performances.
The visitor to Santiago who is fortunate may see a spectacle which
is unrivalled in the service of the Catholic Church, and that is
the swinging of the largest silver censer in the world. At ten in
the morning of an October Friday I entered the cathedral when High
Mass was being celebrated. There was much that was imposing in the
procession of the gorgeously vestmented clergy, from the two bishops
downward; near me, fastened to a sculptured pillar, was the staff
which was found with the body of St. James, and there were priceless
articles in precious metals within view; but I had attention only for
the massive urn, which is six feet high.
The censer had been brought from its house in the Biblioteca and
placed in position in the middle of the aisle, under the gorgeously
decorated dome. It was resting on the floor, and from the ring in the
top a stout rope ran upward to a combination of pulleys supported
on graceful iron standards secured to four pillars. The free end of
the rope was hung on a neighbouring bracket. When the time came to
burn incense the rope was released and the fire was lit. Immediately
the dense, sickly sweet fumes ascended and a master workman gave the
signal for hoisting. The man at the rope pulled downward, and the
censer swung at a height of about six feet, clear of the adjacent
altar-rails; then the leader seized the silver mass and gave it a
strong push, so that it began to swing to and fro with a long, steady
sweep, the fumes rising and spreading in the dim interior.
As the censer was swung it was hoisted higher; then, each man seizing
one of the cluster of smaller ropes fastened to the main rope, a
regular pulling began, and the pulleys, acting like the ropes of a
church bell, caused the censer to make an immense sweep to and fro.
It was fascinating to watch the growing of the sweep, until the arc
described must have been equal to a hundred feet. The censer swung
majestically until it seemed to strike the vaulted roof; then the
pulling ceased and the great vessel was lowered. With unexpected
quickness its pace decreased, and as the heavy mass swung across the
railed space the master workman seized it again and with unerring
judgment piloted it to the floor, a cloud of incense rising from the
top and bright flames showing in the interior of the vessel. Two men,
clothed like workmen, went to the censer, and, putting a pole through
the ring, carried it away on their shoulders, the weight of metal
being just so much as they could bear with ease.
As I watched the long sweep of the enormous urn I wondered what would
happen if it broke adrift and fell into the crowd of worshippers.
Legend says that at one time the censer actually did leave its
support and crash through the wall of the cathedral, and that on the
spot where it fell a well sprang up, to the amazed joy and great
comfort of the faithful, who were thirsting for water.
Being a city of churches, Santiago is the home of religious
celebrations--or festivals, as they may be called, for the people of
the ancient city take life joyfully, and to them the church fills the
place of the bull-ring and the theatre, neither of which exists in
Santiago as a permanent institution.
One afternoon I walked into the Church of San Martin, which has
some gorgeous altars, and learned that there was to be the yearly
observance of the festival of Rosario. There is no distinction of
worshippers in Catholic churches, and rich and poor alike were
entering, wearing little medals and bearing yard-long candles. They
crossed themselves devoutly and knelt and prayed on the bare, bleak
floor of the building, which is reached by descending a flight of
stairs. Children, ragged and dirty, without either medal or candle,
were clambering over forms, other children, prim and proper, brightly
clad and clasping candles, were seated with their mothers, and
_señoritas_, some of them handsome, knelt and crossed themselves
and prayed--but glancing slantingly as they did so to reckon up
their neighbours and the strangers. Officers and privates of a line
battalion entered, and a great number of men, all bearing candles,
and some hurrying as if they had just left business and were anxious
to share in the ceremony. At five o'clock the procession started,
headed by white-clad children bearing tiny banners, and followed
by the effigy of Our Lady of the Rosary, shoulder-high, and the
priests in their full vestments. The women, bearing their candles,
now lighted, ranged up the sides of the open-air steps as the
procession advanced, some of them, the younger, who were dressed in
modern style, giggling confusedly, but others, the poorer and more
primitive, very serious in their work. There was fine full, resonant
singing of the _Ave María_ by the priests and two laymen, accompanied
by a soldier and a civilian with bassoons; then, the image having
left the church, the band of the 12th Infantry, the famous Saragossa
Regiment, fell in and played as the procession at the slow march went
along the ancient streets to the Church of San Domingo, where the
last part of the service was conducted--an old church made garish
inside with arc-lamps. It was a festival in which noise shared
largely, for rockets were exploding at intervals, and the bells of
every church we passed clanged madly, pulled by boys who, against the
sky, looked like imps. A crowd followed the procession--a strange
mixture of well-to-do and poor, of smartly dressed and shabbily
clothed. Near me was a handsome Spaniard in a charming frock and
Paris hat, side by side with a shawled peasant, and a Spanish captain
chatted gaily with a friend and smoked a cigarette.
The festival of Our Lady of the Rosary may be seen in any Catholic
country, but Santiago has its own particular celebrations in
connection with the cathedral, and of these by far the most famous
is the ceremony which takes place on St. James's Eve, July 24. The
people give themselves up to enjoyment and merriment, and begin
early on the morning of the 24th. At eight o'clock bands parade the
principal streets, and their music is succeeded by clanging bells and
crashing rockets. Amid the growing excitement and commotion there
starts that historical procession of giants which crudely represents
the arrival of the pilgrims of old from all parts of the world.
These giants are created largely out of the enormous artificial heads
which I have mentioned. The heads are carried elevated, so that,
with the garments that the bearers employ, colossal men seem to walk
along the streets. The procession starts at noon, and for an hour the
clock-tower bell peals constantly and it is difficult to move along
the densely crowded thoroughfares.
The giants are not the only curious feature of the celebration. There
are also included in it a number of dwarfs--_cabezudos_, signifying
big-heads, who strive, with great success, to entertain the juveniles
of Santiago by their antics and quaint dances. There is constant
mirth and music; and later in the afternoon, in the Plaza del
Hospital, greasy poles are climbed, and country dances take place,
accompanied by the Galician bagpipes, which give national and local
airs--as well as they can be played on such unmusical instruments.
From joy to joy and noise to noise the Santiagoan arrives at
darkness, and at nine o'clock the rockets, bursting from a dozen
mortars, open a brilliant display of fireworks in front of the holy
basilica, accompanied by coloured illuminations of the principal
buildings and the crash of bells, the shouts and laughter of the
crowds and the music of the bands. St. James's Eve ends in a chorus
of mirth and music, and the holiday-makers have scarcely time to
recover from the excitement of the day before they are called upon to
renew it.
Twenty-one mortars fired in the Plaza del Hospital at seven
o'clock in the morning begin the festivities of St. James's Day.
Simultaneously with the crashing of the rockets all the bands in the
city burst into music. Two hours later the mayor, the civil governor,
the members of the corporation, and the other principal local
officials go to the holy basilica, where they join the procession
round the cathedral and hear Mass between the choir and the high
altar, where the civil governor occupies a seat as the king's
representative.
By this time the cathedral, vast though it is, can scarcely hold the
crowds who throng the nave and transepts. The cardinal celebrates
the Mass, at which the giant censer is used; and a solemn feature
of the performance is the ascent of the steps of the high altar by
the civil governor, who, kneeling, offers in the name of the king a
thousand _escudos_ of gold, equal to £400, an annual gift from the
monarch, at the same time pronouncing a fervent prayer, which his
Eminence answers. When the present King of Spain visited Santiago he
personally discharged this interesting task. Mass being finished,
the cardinal pronounces the Papal blessing, and to all who have
officially shared in the ceremony beautiful bouquets of flowers are
given. Then follows an old and remarkable act in the performance
at the high altar, before the holy Apostle, of a dance by the
giants. During the afternoon both giants and dwarfs--_gigantes
y cabezudos_--show themselves in the streets and public squares,
accompanied by bands and crowds of Santiago's populace and country
people.
In the evening, when the celebrations at the cathedral are ended, a
procession of virgins leaves the Church of Santa Clara and enters the
basilica by the northern door, which is known as the Gate of Jet, and
there the cardinal, accompanied by all the dignitaries of the church,
receives them.
For these two days in July each year Santiago surrenders itself to
revelry and enjoyment; then the city resumes its peaceful, yet always
bright and interesting, life. The people have had their giants and
dwarfs, bands of music and mortars, celebrations in the cathedral
and their bells, and have shown that in spite of all their woes and
burdens they still know how to live.
Not the least pronounced feature of the festival has been the bells
of Santiago. Some of them seem to be always ringing. There are the
calls to early Mass at six in the morning, and the summonses to other
forms of worship throughout the day; and whenever a procession passes
a church the bells clang out and mingle with the bursting of the
rockets. Some of the bells are mellow and melodious, but others are
like the ringing of a raucous hotel gong. There is no music or method
in them; a small boy is stationed by the bells--you can see him at
his noisy work--and he hammers at his task, performing it with extra
frenzy when service-time is reached.
In the cathedral the bell-ringer and his family live near the belfry,
to be ready to answer any special call, to ring a peal or sound an
alarm, for the fire-bell is at the mother church; and there are
other special bells, such as that which is rung only when a canon
of the cathedral dies. One of the largest of the bells of Santiago
was struck not long ago by lightning and was cracked. The crevice
is still visible, though attempts have been made to fill it up with
other metal. The bell dropped from its support to the stonework
inside the balustrade, and there remains, out of action.
Pilgrims of old reached Santiago by the way of blood and tears, for
roads were bad and shoes and sandals vanished on the weary journeys.
Nowadays pilgrims travel speedily and comfortably, and organised
bands set out for Spain's Jerusalem to see its wonders and enjoy its
charms. In 1909, for the first time in nearly four centuries, an
English band of pilgrims, headed by the Archbishop of Westminster,
visited Galicia, by the Booth Line, under the guidance of the
Catholic Association, and their banner is suspended in the cloisters
of the holy city's minster, while on many of their walls at home are
hung the coveted certificates of pilgrimage.
Modern pilgrims may visit and revisit the cathedral; and they may
also wander at will about the city, visiting the old Inquisition,
near the Alameda, now used for business purposes, and soon, perhaps,
to be converted into an hotel, the Archæological Museum, formerly
the old Convent of San Clemente, the vast Seminary, the Town Hall,
the Royal Hospital, built four centuries ago for the accommodation
of pilgrims, the cattle market, and the city's lesser churches, the
most astonishing of which is the Colegiata de Sar, famous for its
leaning columns and twisted look. The palace adjoins the cathedral.
It is an unassuming building, and the audience chamber, where I had
the privilege of an interview with Cardinal Herrera y de la Iglesia,
makes no pretence to splendour. The Cardinal is deeply interested in
the visits to Santiago of foreigners, and spoke with enthusiasm of
the excellent effect of journeys to the city. Proud of its wonderful
past, he is alive to the necessity of modern improvements in some
respects, and doubtless some of these will be carried out without
in any way affecting the city's fascination. The Museum contains
many of the ancient remains of Galicia, and in the Inquisition,
seldom visited or mentioned, there are relics of the torture days;
the Seminary bears signs of the visit of the French under Soult in
1809, when they raided the cathedral treasures and bore off something
like half a ton of precious metal-ware; and in the Hospital you may
see the well-kept wards, the beautiful and extensive cloisters, and
the little ancient chapel. Strange though it may seem to English
people, yet you may stroll unchallenged through the wards, and see
how well cared for are Galicia's sick and ailing. The Royal Hospital
at Santiago claims to be amongst the very first of Spain's healing
institutions. Even in November, when I visited it, there was warm
sunshine in which the patients could sit or lie--different indeed
from the dreary deluges of rain with which, as my home letters told
me, England, and particularly London, was afflicted. I know that
when, near Mondariz, I was lying on the bank of a clear stream on
the hot sand, in a flood of sunshine, idly throwing pebbles in the
rushing water, and watching the peasant women crossing and recrossing
an old bridge near me, my countrymen in England, whose southern
shore was only two days' sail away, were shivering in steely blasts
and maligning the land of their nativity. I know, too, that in such
unromantic and inclement weather at home, I was seated on a green
hillock to the south of Spain's Jerusalem, smoking and watching the
hot sun glint on Santiago's gilded crosses. In such a place you may
rest and muse and gaze towards the city, which is one of the most
alluring in all Christendom.
Fascinating though Santiago is by day, yet its charms are not so
subtle then as at night, when the day's work is done and the people
are walking in the open air they love so well. There is no wheeled
traffic in the streets--only an occasional bullock-cart or diligence
is encountered--and the long, broad flags, with their wide crevices,
worn smooth by generations of men and women and children, re-echo
the footsteps of the pedestrians. The arc-lamps accentuate the
quaintness of the thoroughfares, and electric bulbs show up the
strange interiors of the little shops.
The streets are thronged, and there is a constant chorus of talk and
laughter. If the Santiagoans have cares, surely they have left them
in their homes, for here you seem to come across nothing that is
gloomy or depressing. The modern hat and dress are mingled with the
mantilla and the coloured shawl, and the high-heeled boot adds to
that chorus of sound the chief feature of which is the clank of the
wooden shoe, with the softer accompaniment which comes from the thud
of bare feet.
Here and there inside the buildings is a simple oil-lamp, and at
times you see a small acetylene lamp on a counter, showing up,
perhaps, some of the enormous round maize loaves which form the basis
of the poorer people's food. If you would escape from the lighted
streets and be alone, you may slip down a narrow alley and find
yourself in an old-world thoroughfare, whose only light comes from
some open doorway, or the stars in the ragged line of gables which
open to the sky. If it is near the time of full moon you may wander
on--and you will abruptly reach the cathedral, and see above you the
square twin towers and the gilded spires. Again you are back at that
wonderful creation which for centuries has been the pride and glory
of Galicia.
The scallop-shell of Santiago has been mentioned. It is seen
wherever you may go--on the walls of the cathedral, over the doors
of numberless little houses, and in multitudes, in tiny silver
representations, in the shops of jewellers. The origin of the shell
as an emblem is legendary. One story goes that when the Apostle had
been slain by Herod his body was taken from Joppa back to Galicia, to
which it was borne by sea in a colossal shell. The version adds that
a man of high rank who wished to accompany the remains to Galicia
was not able to go in the vessel; accordingly he rode his horse into
the sea and miraculously made his way by water. When he emerged from
the sea both he and his horse were covered with scallop-shells. The
legends are picturesque if not convincing; the fact remains that the
scallop is the emblem of St. James's pilgrimage now as it has been
since he gave his name to Spain's Jerusalem.
A road, newly cut, leads from Santiago to the summit of a hill
towards the west, and on the top of that eminence there is a granite
monument which makes the fourteenth cross to be reached by the devout
visitor who wishes to complete the pilgrimage. I do not know the
name of either the road or the eminence, but the one may be called
the Pilgrims' Road and the other the Pilgrims' Hill. Nothing can
exceed the solemn grandeur of the prospect from the monument. If it
is Sunday, and eventide, the sound of distant bells will reach you,
and the golden crosses on the graceful spires will glint; beyond the
city, and around it, sweeping in majestic curves, are the Galician
hills, and behind you more hills, ridge beyond ridge, with darkness
settling on them, so that they look like colossal rollers in the
Western Ocean when a heavy gale has blown.
Covering an area which seems a mere oblong speck on the enormous
surface of the landscape, Santiago stands supreme. It is the only
living thing in what appears to be a dead setting. There is perfect
Sabbath stillness in the air, and you see the city now, when here and
there a peasant slowly climbs the winding road, as old-time pilgrims
must have looked upon it at the end of long and weary journeys.
Behind you is Arosa Bay, one of the world's finest anchorages,
where modern fleets may safely lie; near it is Finisterre, the grim
promontory which is made by all cautious mariners who voyage north
and south across the Biscay, and where Anson won his famous victory,
and past which Nelson sailed to win his crowning triumph in Trafalgar
Bay. In Elizabeth's time Drake and Hawkins, Raleigh and the other
sea-dogs sailed along the rock-bound coast intent on war and pillage,
and Drake reached that quaint city nestling in the hills whose golden
crosses glisten in the sun by day and whose lights show clearly in
the darkness after sunset; for Middle Ages and modernity are linked
at Santiago, and the garish arc-lamp supplements the glimmer of the
candle.
[Illustration: A LOGAN]
[Illustration: A GALICIAN VILLAGE]