St. James the Greater

July 25 is the feast of St. James the Greater, the apostle of Santiago de Compostela and the patron of pilgrims. A son of Zebedee and brother of John, he was the first of the apostles to be martyred — beheaded by Herod Agrippa I in 44 AD (Acts 12:1-2). The tradition that he preached in Spain and that his body was translated to Galicia is attested from the 7th century, and the discovery of his tomb there, between 818 and 842, made Santiago one of the three great pilgrimage destinations of medieval Christendom, with Rome and Jerusalem.

The Camino de Santiago — the network of pilgrim roads to his tomb — has been walked continuously since the 9th century. The principal route, the Camino Francés, crosses the Pyrenees at Roncevaux and runs 800 km across northern Spain to the cathedral. The scallop shell, the symbol of the Camino, is carried by every pilgrim and shown on every signpost. The Holy Year, when July 25 falls on a Sunday, opens the Holy Door of the cathedral and brings millions to the city.

St. James is also the patron of Spain, of pilgrims, and of the labourers who work in the fields at the height of summer. The "Santiago Matamoros" — the mounted warrior who, according to the legend of the battle of Clavijo (9th century), appeared to fight for the Christians against the Moors — is a darker side of the cult, deplored by modern bishops but preserved in countless Spanish church statues. The Santiago of the pilgrim is the apostle of the road.