Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Spain-8, originally uploaded by Abhishek's Received Postcards.

Santiago de Compostela (also Saint James of Compostela) is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia. Located in the north west of Spain in the Province of A Coruña, it was the "European City of Culture" for the year 2000. The city's Cathedral is the destination today, as it has been throughout history, of the important 9th century medieval pilgrimage route, the Way of St. James.

One etymology for the name "Compostela" is that it comes from the Latin phrase campus stellae, i.e. "field of the star", making Santiago de Compostela "St. James of the Field of the Star". Other etymologies derive from the Latin word Compositum, i.e. "The well founded", or Composita Tella, meaning "burial ground". Yet another etymology derives it from "San Jacome Apostol"