Camino de Santiago (route descriptions)

The Camino de Santiago, also known as the Way of St. James, extends from different countries of Europe, and even North Africa, on its way to Santiago de Compostela and Finisterre. The local authorities try to restore many of the ancient routes, even those used in a limited period, in the interest of tourism.

Here follows an overview of the main routes of the modern-day pilgrimage.

UNESCO World Heritage Listings

The Routes of Northern Spain and the French Way (Camino Francés) are the ones listed in the World Heritage List by UNESCO.

Camino Francés

The French Way ( es, Camino Francés) is the most popular of the routes. It runs from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port on the French side of the Pyrenees to Roncesvalles on the Spanish side before making its way through to Santiago de Compostela through the major cities of Pamplona, Logroño, Burgos and León.

Routes of Northern Spain

The Routes of Northern Spain is a network of four Christian pilgrimage routes in northern Spain.

Camino Primitivo

The Camino Primitivo splits off from the Norte south of Villaviciosa, near Oviedo, and spans 355 km (this includes roughly 40 km on the Camino Francés at the end). As the name suggests, this is one of the original Caminos.

Northern Way

The Northern Way ( es, Camino del Norte) (also known as the "Liébana Route") is an 817 km, five-week coastal route from Basque Country at Irún, near the French border, and follows the northern coastline of Spain to Galicia where it heads inland towards Santiago joining the ''Camino Francés'' at Arzúa. This route follows the old Roman road, the Via Agrippa, for some of its way and is part of the Coastal Route ( es, Ruta de la Costa). This route was used by Christian pilgrims when Muslim domination had extended northwards and was making travel along the Camino francés dangerous.

The route passes through San Sebastian, Guernica, Bilbao, and Oviedo. It is less populated, lesser known and generally more difficult hiking. Shelters are 20 to 35 kilometers apart, rather than there being hostels ( es, albergues) or monasteries every four to ten kilometers as on the Camino Francés.

The Coastal Way links with the French Way through the Liébana Route.

Tunnel Way

The Tunnel Way is also known as the Tunnel Route, the Basque Inland Route and the San Adrian Route. In the Early Middle Ages, when the Northern (Coastal) Way was subject to the Vikings' skirmishes and Muslim presence and forays threatened pilgrims and trade routes in the borderlands, the Tunnel Way provided a safe road north of the frontier area, i.e. Gipuzkoa and Alava. This may be the oldest and most important stretch of the Way of St. James up to its heyday in the 13th century. From the starting point in Irún, the road heads south-west up the Oria valley (Villabona, Ordizia, Zegama), reaches its highest point at the San Adrian tunnel and runs through the Alavan plains ( Zalduondo, Salvatierra/Agurain, Vitoria-Gasteiz and Miranda de Ebro). Yet previous to the latter, nowadays pilgrims usually take a detour south towards Haro and on to Santo Domingo de la Calzada on account of its better provision.

In Spain and Portugal

The following routes to Santiago can be traced on the Iberian Peninsula.

Portuguese Way

The Portuguese Way ( es, Camino Portugués, pt, Caminho Português) begins at Lisbon or Porto in Portugal. From Porto, along the Douro River, pilgrims travel north crossing the Ave, Cávado, Lima and Minho rivers before entering Spain and then passing through Padron before arriving at Santiago. It is the second most popular way, after the French one. The route is 610 km long starting in Lisbon or 227 km long starting in Porto. From Lisbon, the starting point is Lisbon Cathedral, crossing the Thermal Hospital of Caldas da Rainha (1485) and heading to the Alcobaça Monastery (1252), which was an ''albergue'' (hostel) for medieval pilgrims who could only stay there for a single night. Using Roman roads, pilgrims headed to Coimbra and had to reach Porto before night falls, as the gates of the city closed, once in the pilgrims headed to Church of São Martinho de Cedofeita (c. 1087).

There are two traditional routes from Porto, one inland (the Central Way) and the Coastal Way (''Caminho da Costa''). Rates is considered a central site of the Portuguese Way. The way has been used since the Middle Ages and the ancient monastery of Rates (rebuilt in 1100) gained importance due to the legend of Saint Peter of Rates. The legend holds that Saint James ordained Peter as the first bishop of Braga in the year AD 44. Peter died as a martyr while attempting to convert local pagans. Rates is also the location of the first modern pilgrim hostel (''Albergue'') in the Portuguese way. On the way to the Rates Monastery there is the medieval Dom Zameiro Bridge. It was (re)built in 1185 for an easy cross of the Ave river by medieval pilgrims. It is part of Roman Via Veteris and known in the Middle Ages as ''Karraria Antiqua'' (the old way), as such the bridge has Roman origin. After leaving the monastery, the crossing of Cávado River was made using barges landing in Barca do Lago, which literally means "Lake's barge". The Brotherhood of Barca do Lago stated in 1635: "this passage is very popular and it is for more than 400 years in our peaceful possession". The Portuguese King Sancho II made the crossing there during a pilgrimage in 1244 and centuries later King Manuel I did the same in 1502. Currently, the crossing which replaces the barges in both the Coastal and the Coastal derivation of the central way is made through Ponte de Fão, built in 1892, heading to the Neiva Castle, currently lost, the Neiva was a Castro culture hillfort and early medieval castle. For pilgrims preferring the inland route, the crossing is made through the Medieval Bridge of Barcelos, constructed between 1325 and 1328.

The crossing of the Lima River is made through the Eiffel bridge (1878) in the Coastal way, originally via barges. The bridge and the town of Viana do Castelo are signed by the sighting of the Monument-Temple of Santa Luzia (1904) over a hilltop. The Lantern tower of the sanctuary is where the pilgrim can see most of one's route in one of the most iconic views of Northern Portugal. Pilgrims were treated in the Old Hospital of Viana do Castelo, an hostel for pilgrims from early 15th century. For the inland route, Ponte de Lima's bridge is used. The later bridge possibly dates to the 1st century and was rebuilt in 1125. One of the most tiring parts of the Portuguese inland Way is in the Labruja hills in Ponte de Lima, which are hard to cross. In Classical antiquity, the Lima was said to have properties of memory loss due to events in an ancient battle there between the Turduli and the Celts. Strabo compared it to the mythological Lethe, the river of unmindfulness. Two ancient canoes found in Lanheses (Viana do Castelo) and the itinerary of the ''Loca Maritima'' Roman way suggest that to be the site where the Roman soldiers were fearful of the crossing during the conquest of the region in 136 BC.

The Coastal Way gained prominence in the 15th century due to the growing importance of the coastal towns in the advent of the Age of Discovery. After leaving Porto, the route splits from the central way in the countryside of Vila do Conde. The town is still today crowned by the Monastery of Santa Clara (1318). The town is noted for the austere Gothic and lavish Late Gothic architecture, with the Matriz Church of Vila do Conde being built by king Manuel I of Portugal while in pilgrimage. The rising importance of Póvoa de Varzim imposed this new direction, In Póvoa de Varzim, the small Saint James Chapel (1582) in Praça da República holds a 15th century icon of Saint James found at the beach, the way follows west to the beach, heading to Esposende, Viana do Castelo and Caminha before reaching the Spanish border.

A contemporary version of the Coastal Way, pushed by German pilgrims, goes through Northern Portugal continuously along the sea, using beach walkways. This version of the Coastal Way, also referred to as the Senda Litoral, is gaining importance, as the traditional route is increasingly urbanized and the new version is considered by some pilgrims to be more pleasant. Just before the crossover into Spain, there is also a 2-3 day detour from the Coastal Way called the Spiritual Detour (''variante espiritual'') known for solitude and beauty.

The Camino winds its way inland until it reaches the Spanish border at the Minho river through Valença, heading for a 108 km walk to Santiago, passing through Tui.

A less-travelled Portuguese route, the ''Caminho Português Interior'', begins at either the village of Farminhão or the adjacent city of Viseu, and continues along the Douro river valley via Lamego, Chaves, and Verín before connecting with the Via de la Plata at Ourense. Waymarking along this route, some 420 km in total, is intermittent until the Spanish border.

Aragonese Way

The Aragonese Way ( es, Camino Aragonés) comes down from the Somport pass in the Pyrenees and makes its way down through the old kingdom of Aragon. It follows the River Aragón passing through towns such as Jaca. It then crosses into the province of Navarre to Puente La Reina where it joins the ''Camino Francés''.

English Way

The English Way ( es, Camino Inglés) is traditionally for pilgrims who traveled to Spain by sea and disembarked in Ferrol or A Coruña. These pilgrims then made their way to Santiago overland. It is so called because most of these pilgrims were English though some came from all points in northern Europe.

''Camino Mozárabe'' and the ''Via de La Plata''

Sometimes incorrectly known in English as the Silver Route or Way - "Plata" is a corruption of the Arabic word ''balath'', meaning paved road.

The ''Via de La Plata'' (once a Roman causeway joining Italica and Asturica Augusta) starts in Seville from where it goes north to Zamora via Zafra, Cáceres and Salamanca. It is much less frequented than the French Way or even the Northern Way - in 2013, of the 215,000 pilgrims being granted the compostela in Santiago, 4.2% traveled on the ''Via de la Plata'', compared to 70.3% on the ''Camino Francés''. After Zamora there are three options. The first route, or ''Camino Sanabrés'' heads west and reaches Santiago via Ourense. Another route continues north to Astorga, from where pilgrims can continue west along the ''Camino Francés'' to Santiago. A third, seldom traveled route, crosses into Portugal and passes through Bragança, rejoining the ''Camino Sanabrés'' near Ourense.

The ''Camino Mozárabe'' route, from Almeria, Granada or Málaga, passes through Córdoba and later joins up with the ''Via de La Plata'' at Mérida.

''Camino de Madrid''

The ''Camino de Madrid'' goes northwards from Madrid, through Segovia and near Valladoid, joining the ''Camino Francés'' at Sahagún.

''Camino del Ebro''

The ''Camino del Ebro'' starts in Catalonia at Sant Jaume d'Enveja near Deltebre, where Saint James is traditionally supposed to have left Spain on his way home to martyrdom in Palestine, and follows the River Ebro past Tortosa and Zaragoza, joining the ''Camino Francés'' at Logroño.

''Camino de Santiago de Soria''

Sometimes known as the ''Camino Castellano-Aragonés'', this camino leaves the ''Camino del Ebro'' at Gallur and goes past Soria to Santo Domingo de Silos, where it joins the ''Camino de la Lana''.

''Camino de la Lana''

The ''Camino de la Lana'' (sometimes ''Ruta de la Lana''), or wool road, leaves Alicante and heads mainly northwards for 670 km, joining the ''Camino Francés'' at Burgos.

''Camino de Levante''

The ''Camino de Levante'' starts at Valencia and crosses Castille-La Mancha, passing through towns and cities including Toledo, El Toboso, Ávila and Medina del Campo, joining the ''Via de la Plata'' at Zamora.

''Camino del Sureste''

The ''Camino del Sureste'' starts at Alicante and follows a broadly similar route as the ''Camino del Levante'' from Albacete until Medina del Campo, where the routes bifurcate, with the Sureste heading northwards to Tordesillas, joining the ''Via de la Plata'' at Benavente, while the Levante goes westwards to Toro and Zamora.

''Camino de Torres''

The ''Camino de Torres'' starts in Salamanca, goes past Ciudad Rodrigo, crosses the Portuguese border near Almeida, continues past Braga and joins the Camino Portugués at Ponte de Lima.

''Camino de Invierno''

275 km long, this route leaves the French Way at Ponferrada and bypasses O Cebreiro, instead routing through Quiroga, Monforte de Lemos and Lalín before joining the Vía de la Plata at A Laxe. Traditionally, pilgrims used this way to avoid the snows of O Cebreiro in wintertime, from which its name derives. It was officially recognised as one of the valid routes for obtaining the Compostela in 2016. This route is unique, as it passes through all four provinces of Galicia: Ourense, Lugo, Pontevedra, and A Coruña.

In France

The Way of St. James is said to have originated in France, where it is called ''Le Chemin de St. Jacques de Compostelle''. This is the reason that the Spanish themselves refer to the Way of St. James as "the French road", since most of the pilgrims they saw were French. The origin of the pilgrimage is most often cited as the Codex Calixtinus, which is decidedly a French document. Though in the Codex everyone was called upon to join the pilgrimage, there were
four main starting points in the Cathedral cities of Tours, Vézelay, Le Puy-en-Velay and Arles. They are today all routes of the Grande Randonnée network.

Paris and Tours route

The Paris and Tours route () used to be the pilgrimage of choice for inhabitants of the Low Countries and those of northern and western France. As other routes are becoming overcrowded, that route is gaining favor, owing to the religious and touristic aspects of the monuments on the way.

One starting point is at the Tour St Jacques in Paris and then on to Orléans

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