Camino Frances

Today, I will start walking the Camino de Santiago with my friend Joe Arbanas and his step grandson, Carson. We will be walking the Camino Frances or French Way, the most famous and popular of all of the Camino de Santiago routes. It covers about 500 miles from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port on the French side of the Pyrenees to Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain, passing through the major cities of Pamplona, Logrono, Burgos, and Leon (see map below). I will be spending the night in 42 towns or cities during the 48 days I will be walking the Camino. At night, I will be sleeping in inns or pensiones in the towns and small hotels in the cities.
The Camino de Santiago or the Way of Saint James, is a network of pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle James in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, where the remains of the apostle are believed to be buried. Around 45 AD, St. James arrived in Galicia to preach the good word near the present day area of Padron, Spain. After preaching in Spain for a while, St. James had a vision of the Virgin Mary telling him to return to Jerusalem. Unfortunately, King Herod had James beheaded, soon after he arrived in Jerusalem. Two of St. James disciples brought his body to Spain to be buried, near the present day Santiago de Compostela. In the early 9th century, the tomb of St. James and his disciples was discovered, when a luminous star caught the attention of a hermit. The hermit guided the local bishop to where the star was shining, and low and behold they found an altar with a sign indicating, "Here lies James, son of Zebedee and Salome." Initially, a small shrine was constructed at the site of the tombs, which was later replaced by a larger basilica in 899 AD. News of the discovery of the tomb of St. James soon spread and pilgrims started walking, to what is now called Santiago de Compostela, from all over Europe.
The Way of St. James was one of the most important Christian pilgrimages during the later Middle Ages. However, the Protestant Reformation and political unrest in the 16th century led to its decline. In 1987, The Camino de Santiago was declared the first Cultural Route of the Council of Europe and in 1993, The French Way and the Northern routes in Spain were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List, which renewed interest in the pilgrimage. In 1985 only 690 pilgrims completed the different Camino de Santiago routes but by 2018 more than 327,000 pilgrims finished the Camino, with about two-thirds of the pilgrims walking the French Way.
I became interested in walking the Camino de Santiago after watching the 2010 movie "The Way" with Martin Sheen. Watching Martin Sheen's character walk through the beautiful terrain and cities of northern Spain, meet people from all over the World, and drink wonderful Spanish wine made me think that walking the Camino should be on my bucket list. In 2018, our friend Joe Arbanas told me he was going to walk the Camino in 2019, and I immediately asked Joe if I could join him. Fortunately, Joe said yes, so now I will begin my Camino. Czytaj więcej