What's new in Santiago

[Rosina Lila]

Hello you all,
Since the beginning of July it has become possible to go up to the roofs of
the Cathedral and the adjoining Bishop's (Xelmirez) Palace.  Groups of ten
people or less are taken up for the visit which lasts about one hour or so.  The
tickets may be obtained, or reservations made, at the entrance to the Bishop's
palace, which is the unobtrusive door to the left of the Cathedral's stairway
on Obradoiro. (The entrance to the Museum is to the right) . The tickets cost
8 Euros for pilgrims and 10 Euros for non-pilgrims.
One goes up through a centuries old narrow stone stairway which is hard to
ascend since the steps are rather high, there is no hand-rail or the like,  and
no rests on the way up.  I found the ascent strenuous, yet, two Spanish women
in their sixties or so, managed to get up wearing heeled shoes. Arriving at
the top, totally out of breath, through a small door, one finds only the roof
which is composed of inverted "V" forms, with everything on an incline, and no
walkways, no railings, or anything to hold on to, so serious care must be taken
not  fall. The guide was an extremely knowledgeable postgraduate student who
seemed to know, and love, every nook and cranny of the place and all the
histories around it.  In ancient times, we were told, the bell ringer lived up
there with his family and maintained chickens, pigs., etc., and even grew his own
vegetables!
Ancient pilgrims had to climb to the roof in order to burn their worn out,
dirtied garments, and the place where they did so still bears signs of those
ancient fires.  We were told that only those pilgrims who were physically unable
to climb up were allowed to burn their garments in the familiar site on
Azabacherias.
The views are, of course, spectacular and extraordinary: of all four squares
and the cloister. Walking about one is struck by the exquisite artwork of the
towers and by many smaller structures that cannot be viewed from below.
The inside of the Cathedral can be seen through the windows, and there can be
few things as impressive as seeing the botafumeiro in full flight from up
there.  The window through which the botafumeiro flew out at the end of the
fifteenth century, when the rope gave out,  is particularly noteworthy, and from
there it becomes clear how it could have happened.
The guide's narratives were, of course, in Spanish, but I was told that if a
group so requested it, an English speaking guide could be made available; but
I don't even think that one is necessary since the towers and the views speak
for themselves.
While tickets may only  be purchased on the day of the visit, reservations
may be made days in advance.
Another visit which is also now possible is a guided one through the USC
(Universidade  Santiago Compostela). The tickets need to be obtained at the
University store (next door to the Pilgrims' office). Not only may one go through
the Fonseca main site, but the halls, libraries, etc., on the site that opens to
Obraidoro can now be visited and, in fact, should be toured by anyone
interested in history, in art, and in the academic life that has held the city
together.  In fact, in that visit we learned that about 90% of the properties in the
old "Casco" belong either to the Archdiocese or to the University.  We also
learned that just under one-third of the population of Santiago is composed of
students who come from all over Spain and from abroad.
Besides those two buildings we were taken to some of the "Faculties" which
have their own buildings. Because our guide was getting her doctorate in
Geography, she took us to her "Faculty" which is a very impressive building with art
treasures and architectonic wonders that amazed me. That guided visit took
more than two hours and was conducted in Spanish.  For this one, however, I would
strongly recommend that an English speaker be requested (I think that one can
be gotten for groups of more than five people); the information is priceless
and the spoken narrative and the buildings, halls, libraries, classrooms,
examination foyers, etc., do form a continuum.
I don't remember how much the tickets cost; certainly no more than 10 Euros,
but I do remember that with the ticket stub a 10% discount is given
automatically by the University store.
While I was in Santiago I was struck by the fact that almost no one I spoke
with was aware that  one can now visit both the roof of the Cathedral and the
University buildings.  Apparently there have been no widespread advertisements.

Let me know if  there is anything else that I can tell you about this.
Warm regards,
Rosina

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