Santiago da Compostela

Santiago de Compostela
City and Municipality
Santiago de Compostela, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Flag Coat of arms
Location of the municipality of Santiago de Compostela within Galicia
Santiago de Compostela Show map of Province of A Coruña Santiago de Compostela Show map of Spain Location of Santiago de Compostela
Coordinates: 42°52′40″N 8°32′40″W / 42.87778°N 8.54444°W / 42.87778; -8.54444Coordinates: 42°52′40″N 8°32′40″W / 42.87778°N 8.54444°W / 42.87778; -8.54444
Country	Spain
Autonomous Community	Galicia
Province	A Coruña
Comarca	Santiago
Parishes	30 Aríns Bando A Barciela Busto O Carballal O Castiñeiriño Cesar Conxo O Eixo A Enfesta Fecha Figueiras Fontiñas Grixoa Laraño Marantes Marrozos Nemenzo A Peregrina Sabugueira San Caetano San Lázaro San Paio Santa Cristina de Fecha Santiago de Compostela Sar Verdía Vidán Villestro Vista Alegre
Government
• Type	Mayor-council
• Body	Council of Santiago
• Mayor	Martiño Noriega Sánchez (Compostela Aberta)
Area
• Total	220 km2 (80 sq mi)
Elevation	260 m (850 ft)
Population (2012)INE
• Total	95,671
• Density	428.81/km2 (1,110.6/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Santiagan santiagués, -guesa  (gl / es) compostelán, -á  (gl) compostelano, -na  (es)
Time zone	CET (GMT +1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (GMT +2) (UTC)
Area code(s)	+34
Website	www.santiagodecompostela.gal

Santiago de Compostela (Old Town)

UNESCO World Heritage Site
The Obradoiro façade of the grand Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela
Criteria	Cultural: i, ii, vi
Reference	347
Inscription	1985 (9th Session)
Area	107.59 ha
Buffer zone	216.88 ha

Santiago de Compostela, commonly known as Santiago (/ˌsæntiˈɑːɡoʊ/, Galician: [sanˈtiaɣo], Spanish: [sanˈtjaɣo]), is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia in northwestern Spain.

The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the city's cathedral, as destination of the Way of St. James, a leading Catholic pilgrimage route originated in the 9th century. In 1985 the city's Old Town was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Santiago is the local Galician evolution of Vulgar Latin Sanctus Iacobus "". According to legend, Compostela derives from the Latin Campus Stellae (i.e., "field of the star"); it seems unlikely, however, that this phrase could have yielded the modern Compostela under normal evolution from Latin to Medieval Galician.