Monte do Gozo (Hill of Joy) is a hill in

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela 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 Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of S ...

, Galicia,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. It is known for being the place where Christian pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James) can get their first views of the three spires of their destination, the

Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela The Santiago de Compostela Archcathedral Basilica (Spanish and Galician: ) is part of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela and is an integral component of the Santiago de Compostela World Heritage Site in Galicia, Spain. The c ...

. At , it could be the pilgrims' last hill and optional last stop before reaching the cathedral, with between one and two hour's walk still to go, and by tradition is where they cried out in rapture at finally seeing the end of their path. Monte do Gozo is about 4,5 kilometers (three miles) outside city centre, and is sometimes reachable by a 20-minute local bus ride in alternative to walking. It is less than a kilometer after the small hamlet of

San Marcos San Marcos is the Spanish name of Saint Mark. It may also refer to: Towns and cities Argentina * San Marcos, Salta Colombia * San Marcos, Antioquia * San Marcos, Sucre Costa Rica * San Marcos, Costa Rica (aka San Marcos de Tarrazú) ...

. It rises above the trail before it and above the city. It is also a popular site for bicyclists. The hill features the large (privatized, commercial) Ciudad de Vacaciones Monte do Gozo (Monte do Gozo Holiday City) development, constructed in 1993 for benefit of the pilgrims, which includes a spread-out, bungalow-style, 500-bed hotel/hostel, a camping ground, the large Auditorio Monte do Gozo for outdoor concerts (which has featured major international popular music artists), and gardens and walking paths, all on . It was initially built in 1993 for use by pilgrims and resulted in a reshaping of the hill. Sponsored by the local government in conjunction with that year's local

Holy Year A jubilee is a special year of remission of sins and universal pardon. In '' Leviticus'', a jubilee year ( he, יובל ''yūḇāl'') is mentioned to occur every 50th year; during which slaves and prisoners would be freed, debts would be forgi ...

for St. James' Day, some aspects of the development (especially the concert venue) drew the ire of the Church, which preferred a greater focus on the religious meaning of the area. While the hotel/hostel has helped relieve the city proper of accommodation pressure during peak times, its appearance itself has not always been viewed favourably, with one book calling it a "modern grief" and another characterizing it as "soul-crushingly awful". The (actual) Camino is paved asphalt (alongside that optional park walk). The hill is surrounded by

eucalyptus tree ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of Flowering plant, flowering trees, shrubs or Mallee (habit), mallees in the Myrtaceae, myrtle Family (biology), family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the Tribe (biology) ...

s, which along with suburban structures have largely obscured the potential view of the cathedral from Monte do Gozo in recent times. Camino guide writer John Brierley cautions pilgrims not to expect too much from this stop (if made) and says that, "The tiny chapel of San Marcos is the only thing left on the hill that gives any sense of history to this romantic sounding place."

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

visited the hill to lead the final mass in August 1989 of that year's

World Youth Day World Youth Day (WYD) is an event for young people organized by the Catholic Church that was initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1985, sometimes nicknamed in later years as the "Catholic Woodstock". Its concept has been influenced by the Light-L ...

. Sculptures reside atop it; the most dominant one (''pictured'') was placed to celebrate that event, and portrays on its base both John Paul's visit and a pilgrimage of Saint Francis of Assisi in the early 13th century.

References

{{coord, 42.8894, -8.4938, type:mountain_region:ES, display=title, format=dms Hills of Spain Santiago de Compostela Camino de Santiago Landforms of Galicia (Spain)