The End of the Journey - Goodbye Santiago

After completing the Camino most pilgrims attend a pilgrim mass in the impressive Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. These are held daily at noon and 8pm. We attended three of these services and they were all standing room only in this huge building. It would be nice if the mass of humanity was there purely for spiritual reasons. However, we suspect many in the crowd of pilgrims and tourists were there solely to see the spectacle of the lighting and swinging of the Botafumeiro. 

This 120 pound silver-plated incense burner is often, but not always, swung at the end of the mass. You can see the Botafumeiro circled in red below. The white netting above it is protection from ongoing restoration work above it.

When the Botafumeiro is swung it is quite a sight! First it is lowered and filled with burning incense. It is controlled by a huge rope and 8 men. You can see the lowered Botafumeiro and the controlling rope in this annotated picture.

Then the 8 men start a carefully choreographed movement that first almost bounces the container up and down. Then they start to get it swinging. Eventually it is moving in an almost 180 degree arc. It feels like it should crash into the ceilings but somehow it doesn't. 

Watch the video we took from the side aisle here. The beautiful voice is that of a nun singing.  With humor and personality, she also led the congregation in singing, and directed the uncertain crowds in the standing or sitting according to the liturgy of the mass. 

Now that our Camino walk is at an end it is time to say goodbye to Santiago. But it doesn't feel like our journey is at an end. We'll be processing our experiences for some time to come!

Our overseas trip is not over either. Next we travel to Seville to see what the south of Spain is like.