Rural sections have distinctive | living waymarkers
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The Long Walk
l Camino de Santiago’, ‘le Chemin de Saint-Jacques’, and ‘the Way of Saint-James’ are just some of the names referring to the age-old pilgrimage routes which converge upon a common destination: the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in the northwest of Spain. Having reached the capital city of the ancient region of Galicia, many of those who have already completed their long and arduous pilgrimage then decide to continue a few kilometres further to Finisterra, a rocky windswept peninsula on the Atlantic coast regarded by the Romans as the end of the known world. On the shoreline they would have found the scallop shells which became the emblem of the Camino de Santiago, providing medieval pilgrims with a potent keepsake as proof of having completed their journey. Over the centuries its symbolism has also taken on various
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The numbers of people following ancient sacred trails through Spain, Portugal and France have exploded in recent years. We look at this age-old phenomenon. words: roger moss
metaphorical and mythical connotations, and appears among the sculpted decoration adorning countless churches, abbeys and other ancient structures sited along the routes. Santiago’s magnificent cathedral is now a prominent UNESCO World Heritage Site, although perhaps less well-known is the fact that the same protection has also been accorded to many historic halt sites (plus sections of the GR65 Grand Randonnée route, which follows the ancient Roman Via Podensis) found along the four main trails through France. Among our own UNESCO-listed historic sites on the Chemins de SaintJacques is the Cathédrale Saint-Marie
de Bayonne, near the Spanish border on the Voie Littoral (or Voie de Soulac). Bordeaux has several sites, most notably the Basilique Saint-Seurin and Cathédrale Saint-André, each of whose portal statuary includes Saint-Jacques. Further inland, the Cistercian Abbaye de Cadouin’s acquisition during the 12th century of the supposed shroud of Christ made it a centre of pilgrimage. The most sacred of the many treasures of Saintes is the atmospheric crypt of the Eglise Saint-Eutrope, whose earliest sculptures are believed to date from the 6th century. At Aulnay-de-Saintonge the Romanesque Eglise Saint-Pierre is sited on the Via Turonensis and
