Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Coquille St. Jaques

Oviedo was founded on a hill that the Romans called Ovetao. The monks Máximo and Fromestano founded a monastery in 761 on the Roman road here and built a hermitage in honour of the martyr San Vicente. Later, two dozen monks from the Muslim south joined the founders and, according to a document elected Fromestano as their first abbot. They received the protection of Fruela I, who chose the site as a residence for his wife Munia, who gave birth here to their son and later King Alfonso II. It was also Alfonso II who moved the capital here in 812 and made Oviedo the seat of the bishopric. However, in 912, under García I, Oviedo lost its function as capital to León as part of the reconquest. Alfonso II fortified Oviedo and equipped it with palaces and churches. During his reign, a tomb attributed to St James the Elder was discovered in Santiago de Compostela in 812. The king travelled from Oviedo to Santiago and is said to have been the first pilgrim to Santiago. He is also said to have opened the first Way of St James, the Camino Primitivo. This Way of St James ensured the economic revitalisation of the city throughout the Middle Ages. The current cathedral had at least three predecessor buildings: The high medieval churches of King Fruela I from the 8th century and King Alfonso II from the 9th century, as well as their late medieval, Romanesque successors. Gothic architecture did not reach Asturias until the end of the 13th century. At that time, the Gothic remodelling of the cathedral began, starting with the chapter house and the cloister. It was not until a hundred years later that the Gothic remodelling of the cathedral began. Construction of the Gothic church began in 1382 and was to last until the 16th century. The nave was completed in 1498 and work on the façade and towers (of which only one was ultimately built) began in 1500. Construction of the tower began in 1508 and was completed in 1552, but it burnt down in 1575. The reconstruction, completed in 1587, was influenced by Burgos, as can be seen in the openwork helmet. On 11 October 1934, during the Asturian miners' strike, a group of revolutionaries detonated a bomb in the crypt of the "Cámara Santa", severely damaging the building. The reconstruction after this catastrophe took place between 1939 and 1942 with the greatest possible attention and restoration to the original. Two slender disciples. The one on the left is St James, he has the "Coquille St Jaques" on his bag. The right one is John, standing on an eagle.

Salamanca is a "real city" with a population of more than 140.000 inhabitants. Under Roman and Visigothic rule called “Helmantica,” the city developed into an important trading center. In the 8th century, Salamanca was taken by the Moors, but in 939 it became Christian again as a result of the Battle of Simancas. Salamanca became a border town to the Islamic south of the Iberian Peninsula and was subsequently exposed to constant attacks, which resulted in depopulation and only after the conquest of Toledo by Alfonso VI. León's rule ended in 1085. In 1102 the period of repopulation began. The Christian new settlers rose against Castile-León in 1162 and called on Portugal for help in 1163, which occupied Salamanca for two years. Salamanca experienced its heyday in the 16th century. In 1524, the construction of the church and monastery of San Esteban began and at the same time, the new cathedral was built. The university was founded in 1218 by King Alfonso IX. founded. Founded. It is the oldest university in the Hispanic world and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in the world. The Casa de las Conchas was built from 1493 to 1517 by Rodrigo Arias de Maldonado, a knight of the Order of Santiago de Compostela and a professor at the University of Salamanca. The facade is decorated with more than 300 Coquilles St. Jaques (shells), the symbol of the Order of Santiago and the pilgrims on the Way of St. James.

Notre Dame was a Cluniac priory, with a huge church, which was erected between 1059-1107. It was consecrated when Pope Paschal II visited the priory. The church is important, as it was built parallel to Cluny III - and so has many similarities. It once was 122 meters long and had a nave and four aisles. There were five portals (like in younger Bourges) and two western towers. One of these towers collapsed already in 1204. Mid of the 16th century the nave got severely damaged by fire The priory existed up to the French Revolution. Some parts of the ruined church got converted to residential houses, the structure since then serves as a parish church. In 1840 there were plans, to demolish the building, but Prosper Mérimée stepped in - and so saved it. For centuries, the abbey was an important stop on the Via Lemovicensis, which starts in Vézelay and crosses the Loire here. The Coquille St. Jaques is the sign of the pilgrims. From 2006 I walked this way in stages