Pilgrim’s Way

We descend and approach Hontanas on foot, enjoying a drink from its fountain when we get to the central square. From Hontanas, we join other pilgrims to hike through the Castilian landscape to Castrojeriz, a typical pilgrim town. El camino follows the regular asphalt road on this section, but there is little traffic and the road is lined with shady poplar trees. Along the way, we can view the fine Gothic church called Santa Maria del Manzano, named for a statue of the Virgin found beneath an apple tree. 

After lunch, we drive to Frómista. This town was a key pilgrim stop since the days of the Codex Calixtinus and the next important pilgrimage stop after Burgos. Along the way, we pass humble villages of adobe homes and a Romanesque church that (in spring) is topped by a big stork’s nest with an active family of young. On our spring departures, we may see these large, white migrating storks in several places. They nest on church tops and other high places to raise their babies before heading to Scandinavia for the summer (they winter in North Africa). We visit Frómista’s perfect Romanesque church, the golden San Martin, founded in 1035 and restored in 1893. The church is now a national monument, its barrel-vaulted interior full of extraordinary sculptural detail of occult and medieval symbols. From Frómista, we drive in the ancient town of Carrión del los Condes, with its two 12th century Romanesque churches. Our accommodation is in a restored monastery converted into a splendid hotel...LD Hiking Distance: About 8 miles for trip members who hike the entire way. Please note that with our van support, you can usually hike less than the indicated mileage if you wish. This option is available every day. 

Burgos: The Kingdom of Castile was born in this pleasant town, which was founded as a castle on the Moorish frontier in 884. Burgos was the home of Spain’s national hero, El Cid, in the 11th century and remained the capital of Castile until 1087. This old walled city’s former “front door” is the glistening white triumphal arch called the Arco de Santa Maria, originally part of the medieval walls. On the outskirts of Burgos are two of Spain’s richest monasteries, the Cisterian convent of Monasterios de Las Huelgas, founded by Alfonso VIII in 1187 as the behest of his wife Eleanor, daughter of England’s Henry II, and La Cartuja de Miraflores, founded in 1441 and still in use as a monastery. 

On the Pilgrim Trail: Our journey brings us to the most venerated spots and beautiful walking sections at the western end of Spain’s famed pilgrim route, with innumerable pilgrimage monuments along the way. The terrain we follow is gently undulating, with few steep ascents and descents, and can be accomplished by hikers of many abilities. Along the way we encounter pilgrims of many nationalities, from eastern Europeans to Brazilians, for whom this pilgrimage is a symbolic personal journey. The trail follows country roads, farm tracks, and cow paths and brings us into authentic rural regions that, aside from pilgrims, see few outsiders. As we pass other pilgrims en route, the traditional greeting called out is buen camino, or good journey.

From León, we drive to the walled city of Astorga. We visit the pilgrim museum, housed in a fairytale neo- Gothic palace designed by famed architect Antonio Gaudi in 1889. Like León, Astorga had its own bishopric by the 3rd century and remained important in the Middle Ages because of the pilgrimage. After a short drive to the stone village of Castrillo de Los Polvazares, we walk farther to our hotel, a charming inn located on the pilgrim path in rural Rabanal del Camino on the outskirts of Astorga...BD Hiking Distance: About 5 or 6 miles

 

The Pilgrim’s Way: El camino de Santiago—the way of St. James—is the name for the hundreds of miles of collective pathways that have guided pilgrims to the Holy City of Santiago de Compostela for more than 1,000 years. The reason for the great pilgrimage was (and still is, for many) a matter of faith in the miraculous power of St. James. 

Legend has it that St. James, first cousin of Jesus and son of Salome, came to Spain at some point after Christ’s crucifixion to preach the gospel. Seven years later, he returned to Jerusalem, where he is thought to have been killed by Herod Agrippa. The legend continues that a miraculous boat without crew or sails then carried his body to the harbor of Padron, about 10 miles from Santiago. In 813, the bones were rediscovered under a buried altar at a spot on a hillside where a hermit claimed to have seen visions of stars. The hill was thereafter was known as Compostela ("field of stars"). Alfonso II, the king of Asturias, built a chapel on the site. Before long, the cult of Santiago was born. 

The belief in the miracle of St. James was at its height during the First Crusade (1085). The French took to this belief with relish because it united them with the Spaniards against Moorish invasions. The four major paths of el camino started in France at the medieval towns of Vézelay, Tours, Le Puy, and Arles and crossed the Pyrenees to converge in northern Spain at Puente la Reina, a bridge built in the 11th century to aid pilgrim crossings. Here the paths joined to form a united path to Santiago. The total distance from France is about 500 miles. 

The scallop shell symbol you’ll see along the route to Santiago has ancient mythical associations with the pilgrimage. It symbolizes the end of a long journey to the sea as well as resurrection and rebirth in the sea. The Spanish name for the scallop shell, venera, is also associated with Venus, the goddess born in the sea. Even the name for the delicious French dish called coquilles St. Jacques (baked scallops served on a shell) remains from the days when French pilgrims walked this route. 

The typical garb of a medieval pilgrim was a long cape, a brimmed hat with scallop shells attached to it, a walking stave, and a gourd to carry water. Many pilgrims took several months for the trip, stopping to visit the shrines that were built along the way. Some carried with them the Codex Calixtinus, the world’s first travel guidebook, written in 1130 AD by a French monk to aid pilgrims on their quest. 

The medieval faith in relics, such as the bones of a saint, held that such objects were a direct link to the divine and were possessed of magical powers that could induce miracles, obtain forgiveness for past sins, and perhaps even purify the soul. Pilgrims of the past, after a journey of months, and sometimes much longer, would receive the coveted compostelana when they finally arrived at the Compostela Cathedral, a document that gave the bearer remission from purgatory.

We descend a beautiful route to the tiny hamlet of El Acebo and drive to the charming town of Villafranca del Bierzo, built in the 11th century at the confluence of two rivers and surrounded by mountains. In its heyday, Bierzo had six pilgrim hospices and eight monasteries and it is one of the prettiest towns on the pilgrim route. The town’s 12th century Romanesque church is a simple one, but famed on el camino as the place where pilgrims too ill to continue to Santiago could touch the church door to receive the same blessings as those who continued all the way. Indeed, there is a cemetery next to the church where many pilgrims are buried. Our accommodation here is the peaceful Parador de Villafranca...BD Hiking Distance: About 9 miles

The lush mountains called the Cordillera Cantabria are the last barrier before Santiago. Today’s hike follows a branch of el camino that leads to the mystical Celtic village of O’Ceibreiro, which once ranked with Roncesvalles as a resting place for pilgrims. This mountain-top village has a 12th century Romanesque church, ancient Celtic pallozas (oval stone huts with conical straw roofs), and a small Benedictine monastery that was built over an ancient Celtic temple. O’Ceibreiro is associated with the ancient legend of the Holy Grail (the cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper). Legend has it that during the 14th century, as a monk served communion at the church, the wine in the cup turned to blood, and this event became known as the Miracle of the Holy Grail. After lunch, we walk further along the path before we drive to the village of Samos, with its majestic 6th century Benedictine monastery still active with 30 monks in residence. Our accommodation is a charming guest house on a rural farm two miles from Samos...BD Hiking Distance: About 8 to 10 miles.

At noon, trip members can join the Trip Leader to attend the daily noon mass held for pilgrims in the cathedral. Even people who are not religious are moved by the emotional nature and pomp of this spectacle, with the organ music swelling into the vaulted ceilings and the jostling crowd of pilgrims from around the world joined in song. If we’re lucky, we’ll see the dramatic swinging of the huge, smoking botafumeria, a 200-pound incense burner hauled up a pole by eight red-robed priests. As it is swung from one side of the cathedral to the other, the smoking incense often glows—quite a spectacle! The afternoon is free to enjoy town. It’s a wonderful place to walk, with its arcades and flagstone streets. We spend our last night in a sumptuous parador in the heart of town...BD Hiking Distance: Walking and touring around Santiago 

The Cathedral: Santiago’s cathedral is truly grand, adorned with many statues of St. James in his familiar pilgrim guise with staff, broad-brimmed hat, and scallop-shell badge. The cathedral’s highlight is the Pórtico de Gloria, with its striking Romanesque sculpture of a host of figures. Christ presides over the main door, flanked by his Apostles, and surrounded by 24 Elders of the Apocalypse playing music. Saint James sits on the central column beneath Christ. So many pilgrims have prayed at this spot with their fingers pressed in the roots of the marble Tree of Jesse below Saint James that five deep holes have been worn into the marble. 

Charlemagne and the Codex Calixtinus: The Codex Calixtinus is a 12th century compilation of texts devoted to the cult of St. James and attributed to Pope Calixtus II. The book is housed at the cathedral in Santiago. As recounted in Book IV of the Codex, in the late 8th century, Charlemagne had a "vision" in which a knightly figure appeared to him, identifying himself as St. James (Santiago), the apostle. St. James described to Charlemagne that his body was resting in a tomb in the farthest reached reaches of western Europe but the path to his resting place was blocked by the "infidels"—the Moors who had conquered most of the Iberian Peninsula. Book V of the Codex is in essence a 12th century tourist guide for pilgrims describing the pilgrim routes. At the end of Book V, there is an appendix containing 22 polyphonic settings that have made the Codex Calixtinus a valuable reference work for medieval polyphonic music.