What is the Camino de Santiago?

• Camino de Santiago means the Way of St. James and although there are a number of paths, they all lead to the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela (St. James of the field of stars). These paths begin in Spain, Portugal and France.

• People have been walking the Camino de Santiago for over a 1,000 years. Tradition says that St. James, the Apostle of Jesus, helped spread Christianity to Spain. When his remains were discovered, King Alfonso II of Spain ordered a chapel to be built to house his remains. This chapel became the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral.

• The most famous path is the Camino Frances, beginning in St. Jean Pied de Port in the French Pyrenees.

•The path from St. Jean Pied de Port to Santiago is 800 km long. (We began ours in Sarria which is 111 km from Santiago.)

• Over 300,000 pilgrims arrive in Santiago each year.

• The oldest “guidebook” for the Camino de Santiago is Codex Calixtinus from the 12th century. Guidebooks for current pilgrims are many.

• KM 0 of the Camino is not in Santiago, but by the Atlantic Ocean in Finisterre. This was believed by many to be the end of the earth.

• A movie, “The Way”, is about the Camino de Santiago.