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5th camino certificate

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Here's a picture of my friend with her Compostela and her 5th Camino certificate. Just posting it because I had never heard of it until she got it.

View attachment 47921

(click photo to enlarge)
Nice picture , taken before our Huiskamer der lage landen .
 
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Here's a picture of my friend with her Compostela and her 5th Camino certificate. Just posting it because I had never heard of it until she got it.

View attachment 47921

(click photo to enlarge)

It looks to me like the certificate on the left is the Certificate of Distance. That’s available to those who want to pay 3 euros and have a certificate that documents start date and place as well as total distance traveled. Are you saying that there is a separate certificate to memorialize that this is your fifth Compostela? That actually sounds like a clever marketing device—and if you can get one for your fifth, no reason why they shouldn’t make one for your tenth, fifteenth etc!!
 
It IS a cert of distance, held in her right hand , upsidedown and in her left hand the compostella held sideways.....on the CF walk one can also get a 400 Kim distance certificate at the monastery on the hill in Sahagun. Not everyone knows that....you have to start at SJPP for that.
My question is : Can walkers get a certificate of distance at the Santiago pilgrim's office, stating where they started from e.g. Pamplona or Burgos?
Love
 
On my certificate for distance it's noted that I started in Blaye France. As I had missed out some of the French stages we guessed the distance. Actually when I later added up the kms I realised we'd over estimated. Since then I have walked other Camino routes and now exceeded the original number so no longer feel guilty or inadequate!
 
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I did Sarria to Santiago and got my certificate. I'm going from Leon on 01/03/19. I thought just
one certificate would be allowed, but after reading this, it might be worth getting a distance one.
 
Sarria to Santiago is a" compostella"...,to 1.Muxia, 2.Finisterre & 3. distance are certificates.
 
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Is that a "certificate of distance" she is holding? I purchased one for 3 euro in addition to my compostela last time. It showed 799 kilometers walked and looked like one in the picture.
 
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It IS a cert of distance, held in her right hand , upsidedown and in her left hand the compostella held sideways.....on the CF walk one can also get a 400 Kim distance certificate at the monastery on the hill in Sahagun. Not everyone knows that....you have to start at SJPP for that.
My question is : Can walkers get a certificate of distance at the Santiago pilgrim's office, stating where they started from e.g. Pamplona or Burgos?
Love
Yes, I got one and started in Pamplona.
 
The Compostela is a document issued by the Church / Cathedral. It originated about a thousand years ago and has been issued continuously since then to all pilgrims who meet the eligibility requirements.

The eligibility requirements INCLUDE a pilgrimage walking at least the final 100 Km on any route INTO (and ending at) Santiago, PLUS obtaining two or more sello / stamps during each day you walked this final segment as proof you walked it and did not use motorized conveyance to reduce your effort.

This statement is printed in most all authorized pilgrim credentials, in English or Spanish, or some other language. But it should be there.

The Distance Certificate is an OPTIONAL, non-religious document issued to a pilgrim who asks for it, and pays the €3 charge. It documents the starting and ending dates, the starting and ending places, the route, as well as your name.

This document was created in 2014 in response to the many pilgrims who, may or may not have qualified for a Compostela, or even wanted one, but who did want proof of their distance accomplishment. It has become very popular. When I am working as a volunteer, I see many "Sarria - strollers" who clamor for this certificate to document their 118 Km pilgrimage. It is also popular to document a short pilgrimage from Tui (107 km). Just sayin... no judgement...

On the other hand, folks who walked or cycled thousands of km to arrive at Santiago also like this certificate. I have come to call it the "bragging rights certificate." You return home from Santiago. When your friends and family ask you how you spent your summer holidays, you can just show them this certificate. It must be a conversation starter, or argument ender...

Many hundreds of years ago, pilgrims would return to their home villages and show their parchment Compostela around. Surviving the pilgrimage, let alone returning home to talk about it was a rarity. I am certain that it occasioned many a free drink in the local pub...

Hope this helps.
 
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It IS a cert of distance, held in her right hand , upsidedown and in her left hand the compostella held sideways.....on the CF walk one can also get a 400 Kim distance certificate at the monastery on the hill in Sahagun. Not everyone knows that....you have to start at SJPP for that.
My question is : Can walkers get a certificate of distance at the Santiago pilgrim's office, stating where they started from e.g. Pamplona or Burgos?
Love
The certificate at Sahagun is from Roncevelles and NOT SJPP because it is the 1/2 way stage of the Spanish part of the French Camino, if that makes sense
 
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The Compostela is a document issued by the Church / Cathedral. It originated about a thousand years ago and has been issued continuously since then to all pilgrims who meet the eligibility requirements.

The eligibility requirements INCLUDE a pilgrimage walking at least the final 100 Km on any route INTO (and ending at) Santiago, PLUS obtaining two or more sello / stamps during each day you walked this final segment as proof you walked it and did not use motorized conveyance to reduce your effort.

This statement is printed in most all authorized pilgrim credentials, in English or Spanish, or some other language. But it should be there.

The Distance Certificate is an OPTIONAL, non-religious document issued to a pilgrim who asks for it, and pays the €3 charge. It documents the starting and ending dates, the starting and ending places, the route, as well as your name.

This document was created in 2014 in response to the many pilgrims who, may or may not have qualified for a Compostela, or even wanted one, but who did want proof of their distance accomplishment. It has become very popular. When I am working as a volunteer, I see mahy "Sarria - strollers" who clamor for this certificate to document their 118 Km pilgrimage. It is also popular to document a short pilgrimage from Tui (107 km). Just sayin... no judgement...

On the other hand, folks who walked or cycled thousands of km to arrive at Santiago also like this certificate. I have come to call it the "bragging rights certificate." You return home from Santiago. When your friends and family ask you how you spent your summer holidays, you can just show them this certificate. It must be a conversation starter, or argument ender...

Many hundreds of years ago, pilgrims would return to their home villages and show their parchment Compostela around. Surviving the pilgrimage, let alone returning home to talk about it was a rarity. I am certain that it occasioned many a free drink in the local pub...

Hope this helps.
No judgement? Then why call them Sarria Strollers? For some that stroll was just as hard for them as for others walking 799km. Everyone walks their own way for how ever long.
 
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We received both certificates yesterday plus a nice scroll container. Total 5euros. Perhaps to keep it safe as you travelled home
 

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No judgement? Then why call them Sarria Strollers? For some that stroll was just as hard for them as for others walking 799km. Everyone walks their own way for how ever long.

Please, I included the phrase in the same contextual sentence with my “No judgments...” comment. I am well aware that for some folks this is all they can do.

When you see 2,500 pilgrims per day during the summer, and some 60 - 70 percent of these folks list Sarria or Tui as their starting point, it does frame quite a contrast against those who walk hundreds or thousands of Km more to get to Santiago.

My phrasing was intended to be descriptive, NOT derogatory...

Hope this clarifies...
 
There is a VERY LARGE sign at the entrance to the room where you get your Compostela/Certificate of Distance.

How can you queue for and hour or more, and, having reached the peak of boredom with little to look at, not have seen it?

It's even in several languages: Spanish, Gallego, English, German and French IIRC. ;)
 
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Sarria to Santiago is a" compostella"...,to 1.Muxia, 2.Finisterre & 3. distance are certificates.
Not quite. On the CF Sarria to Santiago is the minimum for a walker's Compostela. And the Distancia is for any Camino that ends in Santiago - the longest I issued was 2,200kms from Berlin.
 
So does that mean the old Compostellas on manila paper are done? Now it has a coloured Santiago and trim? One for distance and start and end dates and one for completion of 100K+
I did my camino in 2005 and half again in 06 and got the old one.
 
So does that mean the old Compostellas on manila paper are done? Now it has a coloured Santiago and trim? One for distance and start and end dates and one for completion of 100K+
I did my camino in 2005 and half again in 06 and got the old one.
Yes, they're a lot more garish than before. Hopefully they'll last longer - my 2001 Compostela has almost faded away and it's not been hung in direct sunlight :(
DSCF3014.JPG

Old Compostelas never die, they merely fade awa . . . . ;)
 
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There is a VERY LARGE sign at the entrance to the room where you get your Compostela/Certificate of Distance.

How can you queue for and hour or more, and, having reached the peak of boredom with little to look at, not have seen it?

It's even in several languages: Spanish, Gallego, English, German and French IIRC. ;)

Hi Jeffery, what a surprise to meet you at the counter in the pilgrim’s office on 28 Sep! :cool:

Just a note on the sign – it IS large, but it is head height, so you can’t actually see it until you are literally standing next to it. (See photo below.)

My group all queued for one and a half hours

(yes, I know we could have done the “group thing”, and I know it helps the process if the office can keep the groups out of the line, but I insisted that after 3 weeks walking, they could stand in line for 2 hours like everyone else; and besides they would miss so much of the camino experience if they DIDN’T personally go to the counter and say “yes, I did, I walked EVERY step of the way, and I cried my eyes out when I stood in front of the cathedral . . . .

– and I am so glad I did, otherwise I would never have met you :D),

and none of them knew about the distance certificate until they saw the sign when they got to the head of the queue. In fact, there was a rumour filtrating down the line that the compostela cost 3 euros. . . .

I think the sign is in the wrong place, and should be well above head height. Jill

854.jpg
 
Hi Jeffery, what a surprise to meet you at the counter in the pilgrim’s office on 28 Sep! :cool:

Just a note on the sign – it IS large, but it is head height, so you can’t actually see it until you are literally standing next to it. (See photo below.)

My group all queued for one and a half hours

(yes, I know we could have done the “group thing”, and I know it helps the process if the office can keep the groups out of the line, but I insisted that after 3 weeks walking, they could stand in line for 2 hours like everyone else; and besides they would miss so much of the camino experience if they DIDN’T personally go to the counter and say “yes, I did, I walked EVERY step of the way, and I cried my eyes out when I stood in front of the cathedral . . . .

– and I am so glad I did, otherwise I would never have met you :D),

and none of them knew about the distance certificate until they saw the sign when they got to the head of the queue. In fact, there was a rumour filtrating down the line that the compostela cost 3 euros. . . .

I think the sign is in the wrong place, and should be well above head height. Jill

View attachment 48073

An honour to have been of service!

JC
 
Yes, they're a lot more garish than before. Hopefully they'll last longer - my 2001 Compostela has almost faded away and it's not been hung in direct sunlight :(
View attachment 48074

Old Compostelas never die, they merely fade awa . . . . ;)

I store mine in an A4 binder I bought in Spain. Each certificate is in a page protector. It works for me.
 
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I store mine in an A4 binder I bought in Spain. Each certificate is in a page protector. It works for me.
But I like them on the wall :(
Each one is the key to a Memory Palace and helps me to recall all of the significant events of that particular Camino in detail. For No2 I remember catching the train up to the airport, flying down the west coast of France, looking to the area where we once owned a house, arriving at Biarritz and walking straight onto the bus, catching the train up to SJPP, dodging around the other pilgrims and beating them to the last bed in the Auberge ;) (same one I'd had the last time), the dreadful rains over the Valcarlos route . . . . Happy days!
Mind you I guess I could always photocopy or scan them and save the originals!
 
I understand. My wife doesn't like "clutter" as she puts it. Even though I have my own room, I find it more placid to keep things orderly and compact.

But, everyone does this to suit their needs and desires.
 
I understand. My wife doesn't like "clutter" as she puts it. Even though I have my own room, I find it more placid to keep things orderly and compact.

But, everyone does this to suit their needs and desires.
Actually it's a good thing we had this "talk". I took the most faded one out of its frame and scanned it then played around with contrast and colour and it doesn't look too bad - certainly better than colour the original.

I don't expect the more modern Compostelas will fade as much but owners of the older ones beware!

2001.JPG
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
I understand. My wife doesn't like "clutter" as she puts it. Even though I have my own room, I find it more placid to keep things orderly and compact.

But, everyone does this to suit their needs and desires.
One wife's clutter is one husband's cherished collection of mementos. ;)
 

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