COMPOSTELA

compostela has been selected by Roberto Amati in relation to the real history of european integration, then enlisted in the People, Dates, Places and Events category, accompanied by own fact SHEET useful to the comprehension, completed of historical MAPS AND IMAGES or with a direct linking to the related Blog contents dedicated to the entire history of european integration and the future of Europe.

Compostela is one of the most important place in the history of european integration and will probably have influence on the future of United europe, end goal of the traditional camino de Santiago that since VIII century A.D. carries cristian pilgrims from all over Europe along a channel of communication between the isolated Asturias and the rest of continent passing through Roncevaux Pass, part of the ancient european pilgrimage routes towards Rome and Avalon. Also, it is the burial place of James Apostol symbol of the Reconquista, then connected to the history of Crusades and the Holy City of Jerusalem.

How long is the camino? It is almost 800 kilometers by following the route starting from Roncisvalle, a pass through the the Pyrenees, and passes along Pamplona, Burgos, Astorga,Leon and the ancient monatir of San Millian de Cogolla before to reach the city of Compostela in Galicia. What does it mean Compostela? According to some scholars the origin of the name Compostela comes from the Latin compositum tella, meaning a well-ordered burial ground referring to an ancient ground that pre-dates the building on the site of the Church of Santiago de Compostela. Who was Santiago? According to a medieval legend, he was the Apostol James "the great", son of Zebedee and brother of John Apostol and Evangelist, brought to Galicia for burial in the site where 800 years later the light of a bright star guided a shepherd, Pelagius the Hermit, to find his bones: in honour of St. James, the cathedral was built on the spot where his remains were said to have been found. The legend, which included numerous miraculous events, enabled the Catholic faithful to bolster support for their stronghold in northern Spain during the Christian crusades against the Moors.

According to some authors, by the middle years of the XI century A.D. Compostela had already become a pan-European "place of peregrination: this sacred journey symbolized a profound devotion to faith, enduring trials, and the hope of divine grace. A symbol of the Pilgrimage is the Campostela scallop shell, which is delivered to who complete the camino receiving a memory Compostela pergmanen. The Scallop shell comes from a legend about St. James’s arrival: he frightened a horse, scaring it into the sea, and the horse reemerged with the shell covering itself. Although the 1884 A.D. Bull of Pope Leo XIII "Omnipotens Deus" accepted the authenticity of the relics at Compostela, the Vatican remains uncommitted as to whether the relics are those of Saint James the Greater while continuing to promote the more general benefits of pilgrimage to the site. But Pope Benedict XVI undertook a ceremonial pilgrimage to the site on his visit to Spain in 2010.

Compostela is located in the province of Coruña, the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of St. James: in 1985 A.D., the city's Old Town was designated a UNESCO Wordl Heritage Site. Along the western side of the Praza do Obradoiro is the elegant 18th-century Pazo de Raxoi, now the city hall. Across the square is the Pazo de Raxoi (Raxoi's Palace), the town hall, and on the right from the cathedral steps is the Hostal dos Reis Católicos, founded in 1492 A.D. by the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella of Castille and Ferdinand II of Aragon, as a pilgrims' hospice (now a Parador). The Obradoiro façade of the cathedral is a baroque remaking of the Basilica built by Alphonse II king of Asturias at end of IX century A.D. in romanic style, with an inmense central navata, reporting the mysterious "Templars square" probably because one of its raw refers to James and to the gnostic christianity represented by Pelagius, too. When the centre of Asturian political power moved to León in 910 A.D., in Compostela cathedral several kings of Galicia and of León were acclaimed by the Galician noblemen and crowned and anointed by the local bishop at the cathedral, while later kings were also sepulchered in the cathedral before both kingdoms were united with the Kingdom of Castile. Santiago is the site of the University of Santiago de Compostela, established in the early 16th century by the emperor Charle V first king of Spain.

Starting from 1169 A.D. the defense of the camino of Compostela had been guaranteed by the knight's order of Santiago founded by Ferdinand II king of Leon, which included many Templars, wearing a white tunic with a lys red cross, following the cistercens rule, in the end joined to the Calatrava order that was estinguished by Charles I el fundador king of Spain, when the Reconquista was ended with the conquest of Granada in 1492 A.D.. Compostela remained a reference for the iberian catholic church even along the modern age and the occupation of Napoleon I or the revolutionary epoch in XIX century A.D. and the dictatory regime sin XX century A.D., so representing a formidable example of faith and tradition in the whole history of european integration.

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