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My 10 Favorite Cathedrals in Spain

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Eighty-seven—that’s the number of Catholic cathedrals in Spain today. Although I didn’t grow up Catholic (I’m a Southern Baptist turned Episcopalian), this church nerd managed to visit 26 of Spain’s cathedrals that span a multitude of architectural styles and layouts when I lived in the country from 2012 to 2015. Why cathedrals? There’s nothing intrinsic about a cathedral that automatically makes them big and beautiful; they’re simply home to the cathedra or seat of a bishop. But from the Middle Ages onward, bishops enjoyed great social status, and the churches where they presided reflected this prestige with monumental works of architecture. (Fun fact: Barcelona’s soaring Sagrada Família is not a cathedral, as it is not the seat of the bishop of the diocese of Barcelona). With so many cathedrals to see in Spain, it’s hard to know what to focus on. Below I’ve composed a list of my top ten favorite ones, which includes crowd-favorites like the cathedral of Sevilla as well as of...
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Las Médulas, the Most Unique Roman Ruins in Spain

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Usually when you think of Roman ruins —in Spain or elsewhere—usually things like crumbling arches, faded mosaics, and fallen-in house walls come to mind. Sometimes there’s a grand aqueduct , and maybe even an amphitheater , but all the sculptures, gravestones, and artifacts are on display in a nearby museum . In any case, you’ll most often see memorials to important dead guys or monumental ruins. Las Médulas That’s why I was so surprised when I visited  Las Médulas:  all that is left of the largest gold mine in the Roman Empire.  Although the modern Spanish word médula  can mean “bone marrow” or “spinal cord,” the name for these mining ruins probably comes from the Latin  metula , the diminutive form of the word meta , which meant “cone” or “pyramid”—which makes sense given the other-worldly rock formations that make up the ruins. Close-up shot Hidden away in the rugged Bierzo region in northwesterly León province, the open-pit mine has sliced th...
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Is St. James Really Buried in Santiago de Compostela, Spain?

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As you head down a curve of the busy San Pedro street, you catch your first view of the twin bell towers of the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela—and you catch your breath. Petite hatchbacks rattle across the cobblestone as your feet seem drawn farther down the path, although that might just be gravity pulling you downhill toward the old zone. You cinch up your backpack’s sternum strap for the final approach of this multiple-night pilgrimage. For not the first time on your Camino, you lose your sense of direction as you enter Santiago’s old town: granite flagstones at your feet, stone-and-graying-plaster houses on either side, and overcast skies above disorient you—yet your eyes eventually lock on to a spray-painted yellow arrow on the side of a building. Once you’re back on autopilot, you start to reflect on why you started this crazy, 70-mile-plus hike in the first place. Rúa de San Pedro, Santiago de Compostela Maybe you hiked from Sarria farther inland as a cheap and hea...
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