"The Hostal dos Reis Católicos sits at the very end of famous pilgrimage trail, the Way of St. James, next to the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral.
Pilgrims from all over Europe, throughout the Middle Ages, both rich and poor, followed the Way of St. James, and arrived in Santiago de Compostela. In the late 15th century Ferdinand and Isabel themselves completed the pilgrimage across northern Spain. As a sign of their religious piety, and their growing economic and political might, they began a program to improve the infrastructure and support services on the pilgrimage trail in Spain. They built new hostels, bridges, churches, and public wells.
The most improvement project by Isabel and Ferdinand was the Hostal, right next to the great cathedral at the very end of the pilgrimage trail. The Hostal de los Reyes Catolicos served as a hospice and a hospital, where pilgrims could recover and rejuvenate after completing the pilgrimage. The Hostal had a multi-lingual staff of doctors, nurses, and priests on call 24 hours a day; and provided all services free of charge. Pilgrims were allowed to recover at the Hostal for 3 days in the Summer, and 5 days in the Winter.
As of 2014 the hotel continued to provide free services to a limited numbers of pilgrims.
Construction of the building took over 10 years. Masons, engineers, and sculptors from all over Europe were called upon to work on the project. The project was overseen by architect Enrique Egas, and has a Plateresque facade. In 1526, King Carlos V completed work on the Plaza Obradoiro, creating a large open plaza joining the Hostal and great Cathedral.
The hotel was constructed with four colonnaded and interconnected courtyards within its walls. Two of these piazzas date from the eighteen hundreds, but the two earlier squares are from the sixteenth century and feature water fountains at their hearts. The later courtyards are of a baroque design and were constructed during an extensive re-modelling and renovation.
Since the Hostal was essentially a large state-run hospital, it attracted many doctors and scholars. The Hostal began serving the medical needs of the city of Santiago de Compostela. One of the oldest medical schools in Spain spring up nearby, and it helped establish the tradition of the city as center for university learning and higher education.
During the 20th Century, the dictator Francisco Franco stayed at the Hostal. It was Franco's decision, in 1954, to create the Spanish Parador hotel system, and to renovate the Hostal into a world class modern hotel."
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