A path, many paths
"There are many gates in Santiago and each one corresponds to the origin of those who arrive there. The Portuguese enter through the one of Mámoa, the French through the one of Saint Francis." In the Middle Ages, there was no set route, the pilgrim had to look for the easiest way, places to sleep, fountains, bridges to cross the rivers. Little by little a permanent route emerged, marked by the passage of thousands of pilgrims. The pilgrims were protected by the canonical and civil authorities. The pope even excommunicated those who stole or mistreated them. A long stick, called a bumblebee, was used to support the pilgrims, but also to defend them against wolves and criminals. From the north of Europe, the mass of pilgrims arrived in the Pyrenees by four French routes. The Toulousian route goes from Arles to the Somport following the Roman roads and passes through Toulouse. The other three routes (Paris, Vezelay and Le Puy) meet at Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and Roncesvalles. All four converge near Pamplona to form the French route. Another, older route also starts in France, crosses the Basque Country along the coast and continues through Cantabria and Asturias before entering Galicia through Lugo. This is the northern route. Other pilgrims coming from the Mediterranean enter Catalonia, passing through Perpignan, Girona, Barcelona and crossing Los Monegros to Zaragoza. At Logroño, they join the French route. This is the Catalan way. Pilgrims arriving by boat from the British Isles and Scandinavia disembark in Ferrol or A Coruña. This is the English route. Pilgrims from the south of Spain take the Via de Plata (Silver Road) from Seville, a Roman road that crosses Extremadura and Salamanca to Galicia via Verin and Orense. The Portuguese way is practically a straight line, located in Galicia by Tui and Pontevedra.
The pilgrim's approach
Etymologically, pilgrim comes from the Latin peregrinus which designates a stranger. The pilgrim is first and foremost a person from elsewhere who "wanders" on the Earth. This nomad, as were the first Christians, will find goals for his wandering, making his spiritual quest coincide with biblical places and characters. Thus, pilgrims headed for the Holy Land, establishing true pilgrimage "routes", often using ancient trade routes. Thus, it became a religious act and the pilgrim became a worshiper of relics on a path strewn with tombs, shrines, crosses and other grandiose monuments, erected to reinforce the faith of the passers-by. To take a pilgrimage route is not simply to set out for a month or two of walking on the trails, with no other goal than to reach a city where the relics of a holy man would be kept. This pilgrimage involves much more than a simple physical effort, which is also very particular: it undeniably involves a spiritual process, some would even say a "mystical" one. A path of conversion, a path of reflection, the road to Compostela is charged with a history of more than a thousand years, with an incredible energy sown by all the pilgrims who have trodden the paths and left their footprints, their stories, their sorrows and their joys. There is no doubt that the path is "inhabited" and each pilgrim will describe to you the vibrations, the forces in action that he or she has felt on a journey that is beyond us. In recent years, it seems to have become as much a travel destination as a place of pilgrimage. The way to Le Puy, overcrowded from May to September, sometimes looks like a long continuous line of walkers, from which some merchants of the Temple skillfully placed on the way take advantage. The Vézelay way, different in its approach and in its longer and more complicated route, still seems preserved from this mercantile temptation. Some would still like the term "pilgrim" to apply only to those who set out on the road in a Christian spiritual quest, and who stop on the road at each cross to say a prayer, but it seems to us that the current pilgrim does not care much about the religious dimension of the road. Without doubt, one becomes a pilgrim nowadays to become a "wandering stranger" in an ultra-normalised world. To be a pilgrim is therefore to rediscover our natural way of moving, walking, the nature that surrounds us, its beauties and its inconveniences, to be humble in the face of an effort and privations to which our bodies are no longer accustomed, to experience solitude and moments of sharing in a community, that of pilgrims, with a thousand faces.
Preparing your pilgrimage
Neither trekking nor organized travel, pilgrimage is a very particular form of nomadism. If the roads to Compostela can look like a tourist route where everything is marked out and the stages are obligatory, the fact remains that pilgrimage remains a human and spiritual adventure where walking allows each person to find their freedom. If you leave for a month - and this is even truer for two months - do not forget to worry about all the administrative, banking and professional formalities in progress and remember to ask for the European health insurance card. Cell phones, the Internet, the names of accommodation providers, on-call pharmacies and supermarkets have all improved the pilgrim's condition. The pilgrimage can be done all year round, but in winter you will have to face the rigors of the climate and find many closed doors at the stage lodges. The solitude on the way can be very costly, even to the risk of your health. The best time to leave is undoubtedly from April to October, with the lowest number of visitors at the beginning of April, June and July. You will not be sure to be alone at the stages, but the choice of accommodations will be wider. Leaving Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port at the beginning of the week, you will have a relative quietness on the way and a greater availability of accommodations. The other important question to ask yourself before leaving is whether you will be walking, biking, horseback riding or even riding with a donkey as in the Middle Ages. Most of the pilgrims walk the paths, at least 6h30 a day and even 8 hours on the longest days. The walk can sometimes prove to be painful, especially during the obstacles to be crossed and the rough climbs where several stops will be necessary. You will therefore need to wear good trail shoes as well as excellent socks that are breathable, dry quickly and above all have "flat" seams to avoid foot injuries. If you don't use a carrying solution, the weight of the backpack will also have to be taken into account, not more than 10 kg depending on your weight, or even a little less for women. In order not to suffer from the heat and to find the best places at the lodging, it is advised to leave early in the morning to arrive as soon as possible at the stage. However, walking is not running and taking your time is also part of the learning process. It is up to you to find your pace. On a mountain bike, you will not always be able to follow the pedestrian route. If a trained cyclist can hope to reach an average speed of 20 km/h, we will be satisfied with an average speed of 15 km/h while passing by some tarred detours. Cycling allows you to make either very fast stages (2 hours instead of 6 hours 30), or longer stages (up to 90 km per day). On horseback, you will find many accommodations that welcome your animal, in the meadow, on a tether. However, it will be more rare to find equestrian relays with boxes and sometimes complicated to find a veterinarian if your horse gets injured. Don't forget to fill out the veterinary and administrative formalities to cross the Spanish border with your companion. More and more pilgrims leave on the roads with a donkey that carries their luggage. It is neither faster nor slower, it is above all to have a real companion whom you have to take care of at each stage, necessarily in the country. Without loading a donkey like a mule, we can easily ask this animal, very good carrier, to take care of all our equipment, tent included.
A recognized heritage
With more than 1,800 buildings of historical interest, the French and Northern routes have been classified as World Heritage Sites since 1993. In addition to religious buildings, numerous bridges, hospices and fountains bear witness to the importance of pilgrim architecture in Spain. The cathedral of Burgos and the old town of Santiago de Compostela are two of the jewels of the pilgrimage. The paths of Compostela were also the first Great Cultural Route, created in 1987 by the Council of Europe, with the aim of identifying and marking with a yellow shell on a blue background the paths and to constitute a common cultural heritage. Since ancient times, the scallop shell has been associated with Love. In the context of the pilgrimage to Compostela, where the pilgrim would have to fetch the elegant bivalve mollusc himself on a beach, the shell has been associated since the 12th century with "good works" according to the famous Codex Calixtinus. Over the centuries and the miracles attributed to it, the shell became the distinctive sign of this pilgrimage. The credencial, or pilgrim's book, is another symbol of this spiritual path. Originally Spanish, it was used in the twelfth century to express the trust that one has in a person. During the pilgrimage, it is a kind of safe-conduct, a passport, allowing the pilgrim to be identified as traveling the path. Issued by a pilgrimage association or by a parish, it is a precious testimony of your journey, as well as being an indispensable element for lodging. To receive the Compostela, you will have to present a stamped credencial of 100 kilometers (200 km by bike) proving your journey. Finally, the Compostela Holy Year is the oldest in history, instituted by Pope Calixto II in 1119 and ratified in 1179 by Pope Alexander III. Thus, every time that July 25, the day of St. James, falls on a Sunday, the year is declared holy. It then sees the opening of the holy door above which sits the apostle Saint James dressed as a pilgrim. By entering the cathedral through this door, one obtains the jubilee, i.e. the forgiveness of all faults committed.
