La catedral compostelana, relicario de Santiago el Mayor

Resumen

The apostle James Zebedee, the Elder, was the son of Salome, sister of the Virgin Mary, he was, therefore, first cousin of Christ, a farníly bond that favored their close relationship, as we read in the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles. After Christ's ascension into heaven, James preached Christianity in Galicia. He soon returned to Jerusalem where he was beheaded on Herod's orders. His disciples, Theodore and Athanasius, collected his corpse, embarked hirn and arrived at Padrón. On an oxcart they arrived at a Roman mausoleum, where they buried him. It was forgotten until the middle of the ninth century. Then Teodomiro, bishop of Iría Flavia, discovered it, Alfonso II and III built successive basilicas to welcome the pilgrims who carne to venerate their relics, which remain under the main altar of the cathedral. The pilgrims led to the emergence of various images: apostle of Christ, pilgrim: standing and seated, protective knight against Muslims, reliefs with episodes of his life and miracles. After the discovery of America he considered hirnself protector of conquerors and natives, images that are missing in the cathedral of Compostela.