The translation of his relics from Judea to Galicia in the northwest of Iberia was affected , in legend , by a series of miraculous happenings : decapitated in Jerusalem with a sword by Herod Agrippa himself , his body was taken up by angels , and sailed in a rudderless , unattended boat to Iria Flavia in Iberia , where a massive rock closed around his relics , which were later removed to Compostela .
The translation of his relics from Judea to Galicia in the northwest of Iberia was effected , in legend , by a series of miraculous happenings : decapitated in Jerusalem with a sword by Herod Agrippa himself , his body was taken up by angels , and sailed in a rudderless , unattended boat to Iria Flavia in Spain , where a massive rock closed around his relics , which were later removed to Compostela .