Santiago de Compostela: the pilgrimage's final destination

The arrival point of one of Europe's oldest and most practiced pilgrimages, Santiago de Compostela lives around its cathedral amid a steady stream of walkers who have arrived on foot from hundreds or thousands of kilometers away.

The historic center, a UNESCO World Heritage site and the final destination of the Camino, can be comfortably explored on foot.

The day begins on the Praza do Obradoiro, the square where most pilgrims officially conclude their journey in front of the Baroque facade of the cathedral.

Entering, tradition places the tomb of the Apostle James here: above it has risen since the eleventh century the Santiago Cathedral, which receives each year hundreds of thousands of pilgrims along the various routes of the Camino.

On occasions when it is put into operation, eight men pull the ropes in synchrony to swing the Botafumeiro almost to the ceiling of the transept: a silver incense burner weighing over fifty kilograms.

Just steps from the cathedral, Atlantic fish, Galician cheeses and Galician octopus cooked on the spot at some internal counters close the day at the Abastos Market, in local granite.

The Botafumeiro was created to perfume the air and mask the smell of pilgrims exhausted from travel: today it remains in operation chiefly as spectacle, almost divorced from its original purpose.

Those who have walked at least the final hundred kilometers of the Way can request the Compostela, the official pilgrimage certificate, at the Pilgrim Office just steps from the cathedral.