Follow Saint James

For over a thousand years, pilgrims from across Europe traveled to Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain to visit the final resting place of the Apostle St. James. The pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela is the third most journeyed by Christians, after Jerusalem and Rome.

Various routes emerged since the first historical records in the eighth century and the pilgrimage was named the "The Camino de Santiago" or "Way of Saint James". The most travelled and well known route is the Camino Frances or French Way.


History and Purpose of the Pilgrimage
The purpose of the pilgrimage was to obviously reach the destination, but the penitential task of walking for hundreds and even thousands of kilometers and the meditative exercises performed along the trail were even more important.

A book written in the 12th Century called the Codex Calixtinus was detailed the spiritual readings and prayers practiced by the early pilgrims and even gives practical advice on lodging, and things to see and avoid. The book was named after Pope Calixtinus II although the book's true author is most probably the french monk, scholar Aymeric Picaud. The book is widely believed to be the worlds first tourist travel guide book.

The body and bones of Saint James were said to have been brought from Jerusalem and buried at Compostela.

Logistics for making the Pilgrimage
If you live in Europe then your journey will be far less expensive and easier. As mentioned previously, the most travelled route is the French Way. This route begins either on the French side of the Pyrenees in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port or on the Spanish side in the town of Roncevalles. The route travels east to west through cities and towns such as Pampalona, Burgos, and Leon. For a map and detailed city list, complete with walking distances visit --- The French Way

Most pilgrims make the journey the old fashion way - they walk. A smaller percentage of people bike the route. In order to qualify and receive the certificate you must

The weather can be quite cold, during the winter and very hot in the summer. A good site for checking average monthly temperatures and rainfall is Spain Weather. As this weather site humorosly describes:

"Nueve meses de invierno y tres meses de infierno. " "Nine months of winter and three months of hell". (It rhymes nicer in Spanish.)

References

Overview of Way of Saint James - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Way_of_St._James