The Lesser Poland Way is one of the Polish routes of the Way of St. James, a medieval pilgrimage route to

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of Province of A Coruña, A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It runs from

Sandomierz Sandomierz (pronounced: ; , ) is a historic town in south-eastern Poland with 23,863 inhabitants (), situated on the Vistula River near its confluence with the San, in the Sandomierz Basin. It has been part of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Holy ...

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

through the

Lesser Poland Voivodeship Lesser Poland Voivodeship ( ) is a voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship in southern Poland. It has an area of , and a population of 3,404,863 (2019). Its capital and largest city is Kraków. The province's name recalls the traditional name of a h ...

and the Świętokrzyskie Voivodship. It is an alternative path of the main

Via Regia The Via Regia (Royal Highway) is a European Cultural Route following the route of the Historic roads, historic road of the Middle Ages. There were many such ''viae regiae'' associated with the king in the medieval Holy Roman Empire. History ...

that in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

ran from

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

through

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

Grodno Grodno, or Hrodna, is a city in western Belarus. It is one of the oldest cities in Belarus. The city is located on the Neman, Neman River, from Minsk, about from the Belarus–Poland border, border with Poland, and from the Belarus–Lithua ...

and

Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...

. 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 Tarnobrzeg is a city in south-eastern Poland (historic Lesser Poland), on the east bank of the river Vistula, with 49,419 inhabitants, as of 31 December 2009. Situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (Polish: ''Województwo podkarpackie'') since ...

The route

The traditional starting point in Sandomierz was the Dominican Church of St. James in Sandomierz, Sanctuary of blessed Sadok and 48 Dominican martyrs. The aim was to pass towns or villages with churches dedicated to the 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, distance: 25 km * Niegardów, distance: 19 km * Stare Więcławice, distance: 20 km

Santiago de Compostela

From

it is possible to go to Santiago by two initial routes. Either using the

through

Opole Opole (; ; ; ) is a city located in southern Poland on the Oder River and the historical capital of Upper Silesia. With a population of approximately 127,387 as of the 2021 census, it is the capital of Opole Voivodeship (province) and the seat of ...

and

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

onto

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The alternative is through

Oświęcim Oświęcim (; ; ; ) is a town in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship in southern Poland, situated southeast of Katowice, near the confluence of the Vistula (''Wisła'') and Soła rivers. Oświęcim dates back to the 12th century, when it was an im ...

Żory Żory (; , , ) is a town and city powiat, county in the Silesian Voivodeship, located in southern Poland with 62,848 inhabitants (2021). It is located in the historic Upper Silesia region about southwest of Katowice. Location Żory is located in ...

and

Racibórz Racibórz (, , , ) is a city in Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland. It is the administrative seat of Racibórz County. With Opole, Racibórz is one of the historic capitals of Upper Silesia, being the residence of the Duchy of Racibórz, Du ...

then onto the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

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 routes Lesser Poland Voivodeship Hiking trails in Poland European Cultural Routes Hiking trails in Europe Pilgrimage routes Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship