Capilla de la Corticela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

(among the most magical (and often most-overlooked) places on the Camino to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, begun on 6 June 2014)   


 
Inside the 12^th century Romanesque cathedral of Santiago de Compostela are several splendid little universes.  

Among the most interesting is the Capilla de la Corticela, an overlooked little chapel just to the right of the northern entrance, the Puerta de la Azbachería. It was a 9^th century church that was once separate from the cathedral but that eventually was absorbed into its expansion and reconfigured with a 12^th century Romanesque entrance. 


 
Step through the threshold and you will likely discover that La Capilla de la Corticela has an amazing magic pulsating in it, as if the old magic of this Neolithic hilltop is for some reason strongest here. If you sit here and pray and meditate a while, you will also witness locals coming and going in their own magical engagement of the space, some leaving offerings and others writing wishes on slips of paper to deposit to the left of the shrine.