DNA testing identifies Teodomiro, the bishop who founded the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage 12 centuries ago

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Historian Patxi Pérez-Ramallo, in the medieval necropolis discovered beneath the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.

On a July afternoon, in the central nave of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, the incense of the Botafumeiro fills the air as thousands of tourists and pilgrims gather around waiting to embrace the apostle. Trying to blend in so as not to attract curious onlookers, archaeologist Patxi Pérez-Ramallo opens a trapdoor almost at ground level and points to a dark staircase leading downward. A few steps down, four meters below the temple, and we have entered the ninth century.

DNA identification of the remains of Bishop Teodomiro, founder of the Cathedral of Santiago.

The stairs leading to the basement of the main nave of the cathedral of Santiago, where the medieval necropolis is located.

The mortal remains of Teodomiro.

A 12th-century miniature shows Bishop Teodomiro discovering the tomb of the apostle James.

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