Santiago de Compostela - Pilgrimage Museum

(Local Name: Museo das Peregrinacións) Santiago is Spain's most celebrated place of pilgrimage, with a magnificent cathedral which is one of the country's outstanding tourist sights. According to legend the Apostle St James the Great (known in Spain as Santiago) preached the Gospel in Spain, and after his martyrdom in A.D. 44 his body was miraculously brought back to Spain, lost for many centuries and then rediscovered in 813 on the site of the present Cathedral. Thereafter St James became the patron saint of Spain and pilgrims flocked from all over Europe along the Way of St James to visit his shrine, which ranked with Jerusalem and Rome as one of the three great places of pilgrimage in Christendom.

The Pilgrimage Museum was established in 1954. Theme rooms describe the history pilgrimage ritual.