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#7701
Laura Barber
Participant

The pilgrimage was a journey to a sacred place, completed by devotees either as a display of devotion, a way to repent, or simply as a means to travel. The practice gained popularity in the Romanesque period, perhaps due to the fear of the apocalypse. The pilgrimage turned into a way for people to express their gratitude that the end of days had not come after all, in addition to serving as a way for the common folk to travel and see new lands/cultures. The Santiago de Compostela in Spain enabled Europeans to complete a pilgrimage without having to go all the way to Jerusalem. The churches of this time were then altered accordingly in order to accommodate the numerous pilgrims. They were designed with wide, open sides so that large quantities of people could get in and out to see the artifacts without disturbing the Mass in the center of the church.