Parts of the primitive ceremony and musical pieces of the period have been recovered for the celebration of the Cathedral's 800th anniversary
Today is the big day, 800 years of the consecration of the Cathedral of Santiago with a spectacular ceremony which will try to emulate the one in 1211. Then it was Archbishop Monsignor Pedro Muñiz and immediately was King Alfonso IX, his son Fernando, in addition to the Bishops of Ourense, Lugo, Mondoñedo, Tui, Coria, A Guarda, Évora, Lisbon and Lamego. Not missed were the most senior representatives of the nobility of those times.
And today, as then, they will be in the Santiago de Compostela Basilica Church, as well as those of Astorga and Bilbao and among others, the vicar of the Prelature of Opus Dei, as well as the highest civil and military personalities of Galiciaas the President of the Xunta or the own mayor of Santiago.
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In 1211, the documents of the time tell us that all the guests did three laps of the exterior of the temple with chants and prayers before gaining access to the interior. Inside were 12 crosses with Latin verses, which were ungidas and blessed by the Bishop, and the ceremony continued with solemn processions by the of the Basilica.
The Act today will begin also by touring the buildings of the Cathedral while the Church chants in front of each of the crosses of the consecration, which are still preserved.
When the procession reaches the Pórtico de la Gloria the procession of entry to the Eucharist and the start of the mass will begin.
For these motets of the procession of las cruces inscriptions of 1211 which were read at that time in the light of the candles have been recovered and that now they have set. Responsible for doing so has been is the composer Joán Trillo, who also stresses that work on the file of the Cathedral have been used in this work.