Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: coquille Saint Jacques

A settlement was located here, that was destructed in 1325 by the Lithuanians. It was rebuilt and it was granted town privileges in 1364 by order of the Bishop of Warmia. The town was built with a central square and the parish church of St. Anne. North of the church was the bishop's castle in which the burgrave resided. It joined the Prussian Confederation in 1440 and in 1466 the town was confirmed as part of the Kingdom of Poland. It was the place of fights of the Polish–Teutonic War of 1519–1521. In 1521 the Teutonic Knights launched artillery fire on the town but had to withdraw. Ultreia! ... and a former bakery in the back.

The foundation stone of the Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom) was laid on 15 August 1248. The eastern arm was completed and got consecrated in 1322. In 1473 the works came to a halt, leaving the south tower complete up to the belfry level and crowned with a huge crane for the next 400 years. After the original plans for the façade had been found in Darmstadt and Paris 1814/1816 it was decided to complete the cathedral. Two thirds of the costs were raised by civic efforts, while the remaining costs were covered by the Prussian state. The state saw this as a way to improve its relations with the large number of Catholic subjects it had gained in 1815, when the Catholic Rhineland was added to the Protestant Prussian Kingdom. In 1842 Frederick William IV of Prussia and Johannes von Geissel, later archbishop of Cologne, laid the foundation stone for the completion. In 1880, 632 years after construction had begun, the Cologne Cathedral was completed. The celebration was attended by Emperor Wilhelm I. The design of Cologne Cathedral was based quite closely on that of Amiens Cathedral. As it is a Gothic cathedral, the plan is in the shape of a Latin Cross with two aisles on either side. The window surface area is about 10.000m², About 1.500m² of these are medieval. The "Jakobus Fenster" (St. Jaques, St, James) was created 1230/1240. This is a detail from that window, depicting legends of the saint´s life. In the center Jakobus is interrogated by King Herod. On the left Jakobus baptizes a henchman. To the right Jakobus and the baptised henchman are beheaded. St. Jaques (Jakobus, James) wears a necklace with a "coquille Saint Jacques".

Porto is with a population of about 250.000 the largest city in Northern Portugal. In "Greater Porto", the metropolitan area, live even more than 1.7 million people. The historical center of Porto was proclaimed a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996. Port wine is named after Porto, since the cellars of Vila Nova de Gaia on the southern banks of the river Douro are the centers for packaging, transport and export of the fortified wine. Some years ago I had been here for a couple of days before I started the "Camino Portugues" here. The construction of the dominating Porto Cathedral (Sé do Porto) began around 1100 and was completed more than 2 centuries later. Though it underwent different alterations over the centuries (gothic, baroque), the romanesque structure of the once fortified church is still clearly visible. The gothic cloister was added end of the 14th century. From there stairs lead up to the cathedral´s museum, where many sculptures are displayed. "Saint Jacques", wearing the "coquille" on his hat, will protect all pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela, just about 250 kms north from Porto.