Santiago de Compostela

Santiago. You made it.

Start in the Plaza de Obradoiro — kilometer zero, marked by a scallop shell and plaque in the center of the square. The Obradoiro facade of the Cathedral, completed in the 18th century, is the most photographed image in Galicia and the Baroque frame for Maestro Mateo's 12th-century Pórtico de la Gloria behind it.

If you want your Compostela — the certificate of completion — visit the Pilgrim's Office, relocated in 2016 to a building below the Parador. From the Plaza, face the Parador, take the road downhill to the left past the public restrooms, turn right, and follow it to the end.

The Cathedral demands at least two visits. Walk it plaza by plaza: the Puerta de la Azabachería faces the Monasterio de San Martín Piñario to the north; the Obradoiro opens west; the Puerta de las Platerías faces south, named for the silver workshops still operating below (some replacement carvings here are arranged in a way that no longer matches the original composition — the restorers forgot the layout); the Plaza de Quintana and the Puerta del Perdón (the Holy Door, opened only in Holy Years) face east. Go early, before the crowds.

The crypt and the embrace of Santiago's bust are best experienced in the morning quiet. The botafumeiro — arguably the world's largest thurible — swings across the transept on ropes pulled by eight tiraboleiros. It has come loose exactly twice, never in modern times.

Beyond the Cathedral: the Monasterio de San Martín Piñario is so large you'll find yourself next to it from almost every point north of the Cathedral. Three cloisters, a facade where you descend to the entrance (the Archbishop decreed nothing could exceed the Cathedral's height, so the architects dug down). San Fiz de Solovio, the oldest church site in Santiago, sits near the Mercado de Abastos — the supply market where vendors are second, third, or fifth-generation operators, and the architecture is as utilitarian and Galician as it gets.

Alameda Park, south of the old town, has eucalyptus trees overlooking the Cathedral and hosts a summer feria and winter ice rink. In the Plaza Quintana, look for the hidden pilgrim — visible only at night in the shadows cast by the Cathedral.

Stay at least one extra day. The web of stone streets will bring you back to the Cathedral every time you think you've escaped it.