Today is a very special day.
Pope Benedict XVI visits Santiago and its cathedral.
This year, the day of Santiago Apostle falls on a Sunday,
and when this happens, the Holy Year at Santiago de Compostela,
or Jacobean Year, is celebrated.
Taking a cue from the Christian Jubilee that originated in 1300,
pilgrims that arrived at the Holy Sepulcher during these Jubilee years
would receive full indulgence for their sins.
Such a privilege was conceded two centuries
after the consecration of the Romanesque cathedral by Pope Martin V,
thanks to the dealings of then Archbishop Lope de Mendoza.
The first Jacobean year was in1428, and since 1434,
they have been celebrated regularly.
This huge event required the repair of certain parts of the basilica
that were harmed during the previous centuries’ attacks.
The main repair work resulted in the construction
of the present gothic lantern tower.
And it is very possible that the idea to hang a great thurible from it
was due to the scaffolding necessary to undertake this work,
thus giving way to the ingenious botafumeiro.
The first reference to the botafumeiro
appears in a marginal note of the Codex Calixtinus,
written precisely in the dawn of the XV century.
It links it to the grand solemnities celebrated in the interior of the basilica.