The pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela is based on a beautiful legend: James the Greater had been preaching Christianity in Spain for many years before returning to Jerusalem where he was executed by order of King Herodes. Followers stole his corpse and brought him on board of a small boat. The sea current led the boat to the Spanish coast to the port of the Roman province's capital, Iria Flavia. Here, the Apostle was buried at a secret site, of what is now the site of St. James' Cathedral.
Centuries later, in 813, the hermit Pelayo guided by a mysterious melody and starlights found the sarcophagus on an open field. The legend tells that the field was therefore called "campus stellae", which means “field of stars” (Spanish: compostela). Later researches declared that the name “Compostela” derives from “compositum”, the Latin word for burial place: in 1964, excavations in the cathedral's basement revealed 182 tombs from different eras!
The find of the St. James' tomb was at once acclaimed by the local bishop, Theodomir, as the grave of the apostle James the Great. Soon afterwards King Alfonso II declared St. James the patron saint of Spain. They built a small church and monastery above the tomb.
The consequences of the discovery and its royal recognition were immense. Pilgrims came to Santiago de Compostela from all over the world to honor St. James and to receive partial or even plenary indulgence. Soon the pilgrimage to the shrine of St. James became one of the most important medieval pilgrimage routes.
The rediscovery of the Saint's long-forgotten tomb occurred in a time of need when Christians suffered severe defeats at the hands of the Moors. The possession of the Apostle's relics fortified the Asturian Kingdom's Christian identity and also strengthened the Spanish people's determination to reconquer lost territory. St. James was invoked as patron and protector, and victories were attributed to his aid since the legendary battle of Clavijo in 844. Even today, you will see St. James pictured as “Saint James the Moor-slayer” (= Santiago Matamoros) riding a horse and wearing armor and a pilgrim's hat.
The earliest recorded pilgrims, who started their pilgrimage from beyond the Pyrenees, came to honor the shrine in the middle of the 10th century, but obviously, it was not until a century later that large numbers of pilgrims were regularly journeying from abroad. The earliest records of pilgrims arriving from England date back to the period between 1092 and 1105. By the early 12th century, the pilgrimage had become a highly organized affair.
The Black Plague, the Protestant Reformation, and political unrest in the 16th-century Europe resulted in its decline, which caused only a few pilgrims to walk to Santiago, a phenomenon that lasted until the late 20th century. Ever since, the route has attracted growing number of pilgrims from all over the world. In October 1987 it was declared the first European Cultural Route by the Council of Europe and was also considered a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.