Way of Saint James

The Way of Saint James is a path for walking, called a pilgrimage route.

It crosses Spain and goes all the way to a city called Santiago de Compostela. Walkers follow the path for days or weeks. At the end is a giant old cathedral.

The Way of Saint James is not one road but a network of routes, like the branches of a river all flowing to the same place. Their goal is the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, a city in Galicia, in the northwest corner of Spain. In Spanish it is called the Camino de Santiago.

A person who travels to a special place for religious reasons is called a pilgrim, and the trip is a pilgrimage. Pilgrims have walked these routes for more than 1,000 years. Today most travel on foot, and some ride bicycles or even horses. Each year hundreds of thousands set out, some starting right from their own front doors.

UNESCO describes the Route of Santiago de Compostela as an interconnected network of pilgrimage routes whose destination is the tomb of the Apostle James the Greater in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia. The main French Route across Spain is 738 km long; the four Northern Routes (Primitive, Coastal, Interior of the Basque Country-La Rioja, and Liébana) add almost 1,500 km. In France, four routes start from Paris, Vézelay, Le Puy and Arles and cross the Pyrenees.

The Spanish routes were inscribed in 1993 (the Northern Routes were added in 2015) and the French routes in 1998. The Council of Europe, which certified the routes as its first Cultural Route in 1987, notes that hundreds of thousands of travelers set out each year, most on foot, some by bicycle and a few on horseback or by donkey, as some medieval pilgrims did.

Pilgrims carry a little booklet. Along the way, they collect stamps in it, like a passport!

At the end, they reach a huge stone cathedral with two tall bell towers. If they walked far enough, they get a special certificate.

Pilgrims carry a Credencial, a folding card booklet that works like a passport. Hostels, churches and other places along the way stamp it, to show where the pilgrim has been. Today there is even a digital version for phones.

To earn the Compostela, a certificate from the cathedral, a pilgrim must travel at least the last 100 kilometers on foot or horseback, or the last 200 kilometers by bicycle. The journey ends at the cathedral's western front on the Obradoiro square, a Baroque facade with two tall bell towers, which UNESCO calls the true symbol of the city.

The official Credencial, printed on card in sixteen concertina-folded pages, identifies the pilgrim and is stamped along the route; a digital credential app now exists too. The Pilgrim's Office grants the Compostela to those who come for religious or spiritual reasons and complete at least the last 100 km on foot or horseback, or the last 200 km by bicycle, as shown by the stamps.

The route ends at the cathedral, which UNESCO calls a masterpiece of Romanesque architecture; its Baroque western facade, forming one side of the Obradoiro square, is in UNESCO's words the city's authentic symbol. The photo shows that facade, with its twin bell towers, tall central section, great windows, doors and double staircase, and visitors on the square.

Today, people from all over the world walk the Way of Saint James.

They walk through fields, villages and mountains, and make new friends on the path.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of people from around the world set out on the Way of Saint James. Most walk; some cycle, and a few ride horses or donkeys. Many routes begin in France and cross the Pyrenees, the mountains between France and Spain.

The Council of Europe says the Camino creates a feeling of friendship among travelers and a close bond with the land. Santiago itself is very busy, and UNESCO notes that the crowds of visitors around the cathedral are a challenge for the old town.

The Council of Europe, whose first Cultural Route it became in 1987, describes the Camino as a symbol of over a thousand years of European history and a model of cultural cooperation, with branches so numerous that many travelers begin at their own doorstep. UNESCO notes the outstanding natural landscapes and rich intangible heritage that survive along the routes.

Popularity brings pressure: UNESCO's report on the Old Town of Santiago de Compostela describes overcrowding around the cathedral from mass tourism and efforts to spread visitors to other parts of the city.