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Places in Spain - The Camino de Santiago

 

"El Camino de Santiago" (Saint James Way) is the name given to the road the pilgrims followed in the middle age to get to Santiago. Many institutions (hospitals, hotels) were founded to help the pilgrims in their way to the holy city. The oldest description of the journey is from the 12th century: the 'Codex Calixtinus' and the 'Kitab Ruyyar' (by the Arab author Idrisi).

If you want to do the entire "'Camino', which is about 900 km long (from France to Santiago) it will take about 30 days (at 30 km a day). If you just want to receive the official certificate of pilgrimage (the 'Compostella') you’ll have to walk at least 100km (200 km on a cycle). A network of shelters along the way offers free lodging and stamps the pilgrims passports which provide evidence of completion.

 

The city of Santiago de Compostella is embraced by the rivers Tambre and Ulla, in Galicia. The city was founded after the discovery of the remains of the Apostle Santiago in the 9th century. Santiago soon became a pilgrimage centre. Probably the Apostle legend comes from the transportation of the remains from Merida after the Muslim invasion. Many of the modern pilgrims are Catholics who think the difficult journey to Santiago will halve their stay in the purgatory, at least this is one of the historical reasons to complete the Camino de Santiago. But you don’t have to believe in God to do this interesting journey, many others do this pilgrimage purely for cultural reasons or just for the fun of doing it.

 

 
 
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Read the compelling, true account
"its a long way to Santiago"
by Father Clement Mary, C.SS.R. and Katrina Harrington

The Camino de Santiago had three major European routes passing across France from North to South, and their starting points were: Paris, Vezeley and Lo Pueg. The three routes met in Ostabat and entered the Iberian Peninsula in Roncesvalles (in Navarra). When the pilgrims reached the top of the Pyrenees they usually dedicated their first prayer to Santiago. The next stop was usually Pamplona where you have to visit the Gothic Cathedral. From there the route passed by Puente de la Reina, a typical pilgrimage village, with many Santiago symbols and Estella, a city founded in 1090 to host the Santiago pilgrims. After crossing the Ebro river the pilgrims enter Logroño, the first city in Castilla, where you will find the Santiago Church. Najera (the Navarra court residence), Burgos (a major pilgrimage stop, with more than 42 hospitals in the 15th century), Sahagun-Leon, Astorga, Ponferrada, Cebrero (a 1296 meter high summit, where you can see a fantastic landscape and admire the traditional Galician houses covered with straw), Tricastela, Sarria, Portomartin (crossing the Miño river) and end in Santiago de Compostella. There was a secondary route, known as the Coast Camino, that started in Bayona (Basque Country) passed through Oviedo and ended in Santiago.

The Camino de Santiago was a major communication link between the different peoples in Europe for several centuries. It was the place where the cultural, artistic and trade exchanges took place in the middle ages.

 

Currently there are around 8 recommended routes to walk. Several leave from France.

 

The scallop edged conch shell is the symbol you’ll find along the 'Camino de Santiago' roads. It was used to dip water from streams on the way. The other element you’ll find everywhere along the way is the stick, thousands of pilgrims complete the Camino" every year, and many of them find the stick very useful.

 

The modern pilgrim
Most of those who walk The Way of St James are not experienced walkers at all. Many have never done any serious walking in their lives and many will never do serious walking again, for here, it can simply be undertaken purely for the sake of doing it.

 

The route takes in many small villages and towns, making it easy to find places to rest. Many thousands of people walk the way every year, whether from the Pyrenees, from different parts of France or from even further afield: it is not uncommon, even nowadays, to meet Swiss, German or Dutch pilgrims, for example, who have set out from home to make the entire journey on foot. Most parts of the walker's route are also accessible to those riding mountain bikes. The Cathedral authorities in Santiago maintain a register of pilgrims and in 1991 recorded a total of 7274 travelling on foot, bicycle or horseback (compared with 5760 in 1989, the year of the Pope's August visit there, and 4918 in 1990). The walk takes about a month and there are a number of refuges set up to accommodate the genuine pilgrim not the tourist. Some of these are in old monasteries, inns and seminaries others are provided by the villages along the way. Some are in grand establishments like the old Augustine Abbey of Roncesvalles in the Pyrenees or the 12th century seminary at Puerto Reina. If you do complete the walk all the way and can provide proof, you are entitled to three free meals for three days! at the magnificent Hotel de los Reyes at Santiago, apply to the cathedral authorities.

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