The Lesser Poland Way is one of the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

routes of the

Way of St. James The Camino de Santiago ( la, Peregrinatio Compostellana, "Pilgrimage of Compostela"; gl, O Camiño de Santiago), known in English as the Way of St James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the Twelve Apostle ...

, a medieval pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. It runs from Sandomierz to Kraków through the Lesser Poland Voivodeship and the Świętokrzyskie Voivodship. It is an alternative path of the main Via Regia that in the Middle Ages ran from Estonia through Vilnius, Grodno and Lublin. The Lesser Poland Way was partially reopened on 25 October 2008. The whole route was reopened on 25 October 2009. (in Polish) another feeder route ran from Tarnobrzeg.

The route

The traditional starting point in Sandomierz was the Dominican Church of St. James in Sandomierz, Sadok and 48 Dominican martyrs from Sandomierz, Sanctuary of blessed Sadok and 48 Dominican martyrs. The aim was to pass towns or villages with churches dedicated to the James, son of Zebedee, Apostle James, stopping at Kraków, where there is no St. James' church, before joining other international routes.

Places with St. James church

Between Sandomierz and Kraków there are four places with a St. James' church: *Szczaworyż at distance:31 km *Pałecznica, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Pałecznica, distance: 25 km *Niegardów, distance: 19 km *Więcławice Dworskie, Stare Więcławice, distance: 20 km

Santiago de Compostela

From Kraków it is possible to go Santiago by two initial routes. Either using the Via Regia through Opole and Wrocław onto Germany. The alternative is through Oświęcim, Żory and Racibórz then onto the Czech Republic.

Gallery

File:Muszla Jakuba.svg, The modern symbol of the way File:Sandomierz św. Jakub.JPG, Sandomierz File:Muszla Jakubowa w Sandomierzu.JPG, at St. James Church in Sandomierz File:Klimontow kosciol.jpg, Klimontów File:JRKRUK 20070513 PL SZCZAWORYZ KOSCIOL S.jpg, Szczaworyż File:Św jakub.jpg, Skalbmierz File:POL gmina Pałecznica COA.jpg, Pałecznica File:Niegardow X 2008.jpg, Niegardów File:JKRUK 20070920 WIECLAWICE STARE KOSCIOL SEside.jpg, Więcławice File:Tyniec.jpg, Kraków - Tyniec File:Opatowiec church 20060624 0912.jpg, Opatowiec File:Koprzywnica church.jpg, Koprzywnica

References

External links

* Online route map
link

details for French and Lithuanian pilgrims

News in English 2009in English 2008

Sandomierz

Więcławice
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lesser Poland Way Camino de Santiago Lesser Poland Hiking trails in Poland European Cultural Routes Hiking trails in Europe Pilgrimage routes