Wednesday April 2, 2025
Our bus in front of the San Francisco Hotel Monumento, Santiago de Compostela
We arrive at our hotel the San Francisco Hotel Monumento in Santiago de Compostela around 7pm on April 2, 2025. It would be our home for the next two nights.
Postcard of monastery in room (no year)
Construction of this monastery began in the 1600’s with the cloister. The dining room was added in 1730 and the attached church in 1787.
Cloister
At one time hundreds of Franciscan monks lived in the dormitory, today only 8 share the building with their guests. The hotel opened in 2005 using former monk bedrooms as hotel rooms.
Entrance to Monks dormitory
Standard double room San Francisco Hotel Monumento
Dinner in the San Francisco Hotel Monumento Dining Room
We have just a few minutes to check into our rooms before heading down to the dining room for dinner. Most dinners on our 206 Tour were three course sit down meals, with exquisite table settings, generous portions, served elegantly by hotel staff. An appetizer or salad, main course, and a dessert. Wine and bottled water served with every dinner.
After dinner our group finally retires to our rooms around 10pm. Tomorrow we have a full day in Santiago de Compostela.
Thursday April 3, 2025
A full buffet breakfast with a large selection of hot and cold options is served at 7am in the monk's grand dining room.
Another cool morning at 57 degrees, cloudy but no rain. Today we have the opportunity to walk a portion of
the Camino de Santiago, a network of roads that leads across France, Spain, and Portugal to the Cathedral of Saint James in Santiago de Compostela.
The route was established in the 9th century after the discovery of relics of Saint James the Great. Today there are about 10 different major routes that pilgrims may follow. Each varies in difficulty and length. In general pilgrims will walk about 18 to 20 miles a day and overnight in a pension.
The scallop shell which is found on the coast near Santiago has long been the symbol of the Camino. It is used as a way marker along the Camino. As pilgrims travel the Camino they will have a passport stamped from the different stops along the way.
Our bus dropped the majority of our group at O Pino, about 11 miles from our hotel. They followed this path. O Pino is part of the French Road to Santiago and the last stage before pilgrims finish their Camino.
Our group starting the O Pino portion of the Camino
The rest of us, who have some physical challenges, begin our walk at the end meeting point. We then walk 30 minutes out, turn around and head back to where we started. The goal is to arrive at the end point around the same time as those hiking the longer section. The plan works perfectly.
Our Camino
Our shorter Camino followed this path out and back. It was a serene walk past a babbling brook, stand of flowering European white birch trees, and rustic farm houses. We were even able to get pictures by way markings and stamps on our paper passport.
Passport Stamps
As we made our Camino we passed by joyful pilgrims making their last push to get to the Cathedral for noon Mass and the end of their Camino. "Bon Camino" we all called in unison. And it most certainly as a bon Camino.
Bon Camino
After our abbreviated Camino our group reunited at the Hotel Amenal for Coffee Americano before taking the bus back to our hotel.
Back at the hotel we have a very short turn around time to walk to the Cathedral for the pilgrims' Mass in Spanish at noon.
We enter the Cathedral from the southern Transept. This entrance has maintained its original facade which is Romanesque in style and contains scenes from the life of Christ portrayed in a series of relief carvings.
Southern Transept Cathedral Santiago de Compostela
Main altar Cathedral Santiago de Compostela
The picture above shows a front view of the main altar. We will be sitting to the side. It is from this location where we will enjoy the swinging Botafumeiro.
Botafumiro, which is the Galician word for smoke expeller, refers to what is a large incense holder that is swung by a team of 8 men called tiraboleiros on a pulley system. This teams efforts swing the botafumiro 65 feet high back and forth into the cathedral naves.
Some have said that the purpose of the incense from
the botafumeiro filing the nave of the Cathedral is to cover the smell of the
pilgrims who arrive here without a proper shower after months hiking the
Camino. I prefer a more Catholic explanation
from tradition which is, the incense rising from the botafumeiro symbolizes the
prayers of the pilgrims rising to heaven and to the heart of God.
Experiencing the botafumiro swinging is one of the highlights of a pilgrims journey. But it does not swing at every Mass. Outside of solemnities or high holy days someone, or an organization must pay to have this done. 206 Tours sponsored the swinging at our Mass.
Here is an edited version of the botafumiro at our Mass
After Mass we had a break for lunch. There are a number of restaurants that line the narrow streets around the Cathedral. We chose the
Stella Bar in the Plaza Franco.
Streets of Santiago de Compostela
At 3pm we meet back up with Leo in front of the western entrance to the Cathedral for a tour of the museum and the church.
Work on the western facade of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostella began in the 1600’s. This work included the Renaissance style staircase and the two campanas or towers that flank the entrance.
We begin our tour by entering the museum located in the building to the right of the Cathedral.
The rooms in the museum feature pieces that belong to the
history of the cathedral. On the ground floor are exhibits on the origins of the Cathedral, including pieces of Master Mateo's stone choir which were salvaged after being demolished in the 1600's.
Stone choir
The first floor also features art of the Cathedral from the 13th to the 18th centuries. Two of my favorites are St. Anne and the Virgin and Child by French sculpture Nicolas de Chaterenne (c. 1485 - 1551) and the Annunciation c. 1325.
On the second floor we visit the cloister, the Chapel of the Relics, the Cathedral's Treasury and Chapter Library.
Cloister
Chapel of Relics
From the museum we make our way into the Cathedral to view the main altar from the entrance. In the center of the nave is the pipe organ which is two pieces facing each other. It was designed in baroque style in the early 1700's and upgraded in 2005 with a new electrical system.
Above the main altar is a life-sized statue of Saint James. He faces out over the altar. Pilgrims can see him from their pews. Behind the altar is a small room that is reached by a set of stairs. In this room pilgrims may hug the statue of Saint James from behind. There are no pictures allowed, but each of us climbed the stairs to participate in this tradition.
The tomb of Saint James is in a crypt beneath the main altar. The remains of his disciples, Saint Athanasius and Saint Theodore also reside in the crypt.
We had the rest of the afternoon off and would meet back up in the lobby of our hotel at 7:30 to walk back into the heart of the historic district of Santiago de Compostela to a local restaurant, Petiscos do Cardeal (Rua do Franco, 10) for dinner. While our group reminisced about our day we were served multiple dishes with generous portions of tapas.
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All photos or videos by L.A. Momboisse unless otherwise noted
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On the second floor we visit the cloister, the Chapel of the Relics, the Cathedral's Treasury and Chapter Library. 
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