Catalonia & the Pyrenees Best - Discover Spain: Experience the Best of Spain - page 206

(Plaza del Pilar; 7am-8.30pm) Brace yourself for the saintly and the solemn in this
great baroque cavern of Catholicism. It was here on 2 January 40 that Santiago (St
James the Apostle) is believed by the faithful to have seen the Virgin Mary descend
atop a marble pilar (pillar). A chapel was built around the remaining pillar, followed
by a series of ever-more-grandiose churches, culminating in the enormous basilica
that you see today. The exterior is another story altogether, its splendid main dome
lording over a flurry of 10 mini-domes, each encased in chunky blue, green, yellow
and white tiles, creating a kind of rugged Byzantine effect.
The legendary pilar is in the Capilla Santa, inside the east end of the basilica. A
tiny oval-shaped portion of the pilar is exposed on the chapel's outer west side. A
steady stream of people (with busloads of the faithful arriving at times) line up to
brush lips with its polished and seamed cheek, which even popes have air-kissed.
JORGE FERNANDEZ / ALAMY
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