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G a l i c i a ! | ||||
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Galiza or Galicia is situated at the Northwest tip of the Iberian peninsula. Galicia looks and feels like no other region of the country. Often veiled in a misty drizzle, its ferny eucalyptus woods, plunging valleys, and slate-roofed fishing villages nap beside long white beaches. Rivers wind through hills, gradually widening into the famous rias (estuaries) that empty into the Cantabrian Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
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A rest stop on the Celts’ journey to Ireland around 900BC, Celtiberian influences endure. Ancient castros (fortress-villages), inscriptions, dolmenes (funerary chambers), and gaitas (bagpipes) testify to Galicias’s Celtiberian past, as does lingering lore about witches, fountain fairies and buried treasure.
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The Horreo is the Panera of Galicia. It is made of bricks and not of wood like in Asturias, and its architecture is different - that is what makes it special to Galicia. As in Asturias, it is adjacent to the main house and is used to store food.
Galicians speak "Gallego", a language related to Portuguese and Castillan. In fact, "Gallego" is a linguistic missing link of sorts between Portuguese and Castillan. Most Galicians are bilingual, save for townspeople in remote areas. Conversation tends to proceed in Castillan, but newspapers print articles in both languages. 
Regional cuisine features "caldo gallego" (a vegetable broth), "pulpo a la gallega" (marinated octopus), "vietras" (scallops, the pilgrim’s trophy), and the "empanada" (turnover/pastry stuffed with tomato and tuna, bakala, chicken and meat among other fillings). "Tetilla" is a creamy, tangy cheese, delicious especially when eaten with the area’s tart and slightly cloudy Ribeiro wine.
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Ever since the remains of the Apostle St. James were discovered there in 813 AD, Santiago has drawn myriads of pilgrims, many walking for years to worship at its cathedral. The esteemed relics lifted Santiago into the ranks of one of Christianity’s three holy cities, alongside Rome and Jerusalem. Its cathedral marks the end of an 800-year-old 900km pilgrimage believed to halve one’s time in purgatory. 
The most common route of "El Camino de Santiago", La Ruta Francesa, leads from Roncesvalles, Navarra (near the French border) to Santiago.
Since the 12th century, voluminous numbers have followed the Camino, many as true believers, others as a way to be closer to nature and to ones self. Romanesque art, Provencal lyric, epic, legend and music were introduced to Spain by way of El Camino de Santiago. Today, sunburnt pilgrims, smiling nuns, musicians and tourists fill the granite streets by the cathedral of Santiago, absorbing the very special atmosphere which is found in this mystical city.
Galiza o Galicia es la región más al noroeste de España. Pais verde y mágico, repleto de pequeñas y redondeadas montañas, valles, rios, vacas y fuentes. Tierra marinera y labradora, sus recortadas costas hacen que tenga más km de costa que todo el resto de España junto, y la flota pesquera más grande de Europa. Con una lengua y una cultura propia y milenaria. El legado preromano de los celtas y las tribus indigenas permanece vivo, y aunque escondido, se muestra amenudo en forma de ruinas, monumentos, nombres de lugar, costumebres, ritos disfrazados de cristianos y leyendas. Está aquí muy asentada la religión católica. En Santiago, la pequeña capital de Galicia y elegida como capital europea de la cultura del año 2000, donde la lluvia se hace poesia, está el sepulcro del apóstol Santiago. Fue este apóstol quien trajo a galicia la religion cristiana, pues recivió de su maestro Jesucristo la orden de predicar su palabra hasta los confines del mundo, y es aquí, en un cabo llamado Fisterra para ser mas exactos, donde el mundo clasico situo el fin de la tierra. Es Santiago, despues de Roma y Jerusalem, el principal centro de peregrinación católico desde tiempos de la edad media, mas de siete millones de personas de todo el mundo pasaron por esta localidad de apenas cien mil habitantes en 1999, año Santo "Xacobeo". Se conoce así al año en que se abre la puerta santa de la catedral, todo el que por ella pase ganará el perdón eterno para el alma de un ser querido. 
Please feel free to contact me with any questions! rbeja@hotmail.com or ICQ #10172277  View My Guestbook
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