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Credencial del Peregrinos
Origins:
The ‘Credencial’ or pilgrim’s passport evolved from letters of safe passage granted by the church or state (and sometimes the King) to people going a journey through foreign lands. Prospective travellers, both clerics and laymen, combining business with...
The trail in the South of France, over the Somport Pass and the Camino Aragones, are well documented, historic trails. This is a less travelled trail with spectacular scenery. The route from Le Puy, also with great landscapes, is a modern Camino which was established on GR hiking trails in the...
The forum turns 19 this month!
Congratulations Ivar and thank you for this powerful site, which has helped hundreds of thousands of pilgrims over the years. I joined in November 2004 when the site was focussed more on Santiago de Compostella itself but soon evolved into a Camino related forum.
If one of my loved ones called regularly, and then suddenly stopped calling, I would also report it to the authorities and hope that they had just dropped off the grid, or lost signal or couldn't use their phone.
In April 2015 the family of an American pilgrim reported her missing because...
Many European villages and towns had confraternities of James pilgrims that organised group walks for the town inhabitants to Santiago. It was considered much safer to walk with a group than to travel alone.
In Catherine Gasquoine's book The Story of Santiago de Compostela, she describes how...
In 2013 a lady from Ireland joined my Caracoles (snails) group of not-so-able pilgrims to walk the last 100km in 17 days from Sarria.
She and her husband had started walking the Camino from Burgos in 1989 and had collected stamps for as far as Astorga. She'd had polio as a child and when she...
What's going on? Tempus fugit - and with the flight of time, so everything has changed.
In 1994 there were less than 150 albergues on the Camino Frances.
There was no Google, Wifi, mobile phones, GPS or Apps.
Only 15 863 pilgrims claimed a Compostela that year.
Last year 438 182 Compostelas...
Legend is that after their last stand at the Castle of Cornatel in the Medulas, most the Templars in Spain managed to flee to Portugal where they were absorbed into local chapters. Some were given land and were allowed to continue their activities, many under the Knights of Christ.
If you belong to a local church you can get a stamp before you leave home. The cathedral in Oviedo has a lovely stamp and it is worth a visit, especially the Camara Santa - the Holy Chamber - which holds a number of ancient Christian relics including the Sudarium.
The Templars reworked the vast gold mining area south of Ponferrada at Las Medulas, once the largest in the Roman Empire. Many sources claim that at the beginning of the 12th century, the Templar knights took possession of the fortress and reinforced and extended it to use it as an inhabitable...
I have a photo of the cairn on my Memorial blog http://amawalker.blogspot.com/2012/08/memorials-pilgrims-who-died-on-camino.html
Perhaps the Association in Estella would be able to help you with your enquiry.
https://www.caminodesantiagoestella.org/contacto/
His 1982 guide shows both routes mentioned in the Codex Calixtinus. One from Sant Michel and the other from Borce - both which were in 'Spain' until the borders were changed in the 1800s.
Academics have used GG King's trilogy for years as a yardstick for the art, architecture and history of the pilgrimage to Santiago.
At the time they were published, reviews of her books were not always complimentary, mainly due of her lack of faith, impatience with the legends and beliefs of...
If you buy a ticket for the museum it includes a visit to the dogs. Some lucky people are allowed to accompany them and their handlers on their daily walk.
In 2016 most of our group walked on the trail while I walked on the road. I could see the other's from time to time and eventually we arrived at St Remy within a minute or two of each other. From there we all walked on the trail to Etroubles
I led a small group of not-so-able pilgrims from Sarria to Santiago for 17 days in 2013. I did a reconnaissance walk before they started to photograph the challenginge sections. One 73 year-old lady with post-polio used a Veloped hiking walker. It has 2 front wheels that enabled her to...
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