- Time of past OR future Camino
- Too many and too often!
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Concentrate on the positive aspects, @Jeff Crawley ☺. I can imagine all sorts of horrible things happening under this new scenario. Apparently, in a second phase, there will be toilets, a space for a guard person or maintenance person, and better parking spaces on the other side of the road and the road itself will be redesigned so that it is a few meters away from the mound but that's not for this year. I wonder whether the American donation doesn't cover that?If only we could find some way of preventing people from dropping their rubbish on the ground.
Hopefully the work will be protected with anti-graffiti paint?
The article includes a proposal for "a small cabin for the guard that will ensure the integrity of the space". Presumably to reduce those sort of problems. But I find it quite sad that such a thing is considered to be necessary or advisable. That speaks volumes.If only we could find some way of preventing people from dropping their rubbish on the ground.
Hopefully the work will be protected with anti-graffiti paint?
Agreed.The article includes a proposal for "a small cabin for the guard that will ensure the integrity of the space". Presumably to reduce those sort of problems. But I find it quite sad that such a thing is considered to be necessary or advisable. That speaks volumes.
Oh I wasn't trying to be negative Katharina, it just seems that every time you do something good like this idiots with a spray can or Sharpie have to deface it.Concentrate on the positive aspects, @Jeff Crawley ☺. I can imagine all sorts of horrible things happening under this new scenario. Apparently, in a second phase, there will be toilets, a space for a guard person or maintenance person, and better parking spaces on the other side of the road and the road itself will be redesigned so that it is a few meters away from the mound but that's not for this year. I wonder whether the American donation doesn't cover that?
Additional source: https://www.diariodeleon.es/articul...tualidad-universal/202002212043051989050.html
It already is a tourist spotI don't know what kind of spirituality space can you make, with a parking and walks among the trees...."Tourist Spot" I would call it
Such future plans are frightening; hopefully all suchAll I can think is next will come the tour buses and trinket shops like Lourdes.
Then entire Camino is commercialized and a tourist spot...that's how they make money and it's okay...someone has to pay for it. I still love the CaminoI don't know what kind of spirituality space can you make, with a parking and walks among the trees...."Tourist Spot" I would call it
If only we could find some way of preventing people from dropping their rubbish on the ground.
Like this?If only we could find some way of preventing people from dropping their rubbish on the ground.
Hopefully the work will be protected with anti-graffiti paint?
Trecile, your reply and photo can be taken two ways and is like an oxy moron...both humorousLike this?
For me this spot is the most meaningful place to me anywhere on any camino. When I first walked the Camino in 2012 I had so much to unburden myself that when I placed my rock down I was on my knees weeping for I do not know how long. I was completely overwhelmed by what was happening to me and completely unaware of what was around me. I was told a few days later that a tour bus did pull up and people were taking photos of me. (the photo of me here was taken that day but by a most beautiful pilgrim who I loved dearly. She told me she took the photo as a gift and if she would gladly delete it if I did not want it or felt she was intruding on me. We spoke that night just about why she took the photo and what moved her to do it). I was also told that another dear pilgrim from Mexico became so angry he started to take the cameras out of their hands and quietly yelled at the tourists that this is not a spectacle but a deeply personal moment. So even then it was a tourist attraction.All I can think is next will come the tour buses and trinket shops like Lourdes.
Was that before or after the weekend of 15+16 September 2012? Apparently, the local amigos association had organised a cleaning action / jornada de limpieza y dignificación on that weekend. And we were there at the end of August during another year and I found the pole and the immediate vicinity remarkably clean but again, I knew that they had a major cleaning operation a month earlier because of the annual local pilgrimage to the chapel.September 2012
I have just been reading Nancy Frey's 1998 Pilgrim Stories. In it she talks about votive offerings left at the Cruz in the mid-1990s and has a couple of photographs showing these. I have no recollection of seeing anything other than stones in 1990 but I may have been lucky enough to have passed by after a clean-up. She also notes the laughter of a Dutch foot pilgrim who saw groups drive up in cars, lift rocks from the ground and add them to the heap, then drive away again. Seems that not all that much has changed in 25 years after all...We always see just a snapshot. We had a long and very pleasant midday rest there, we saw no buses, no unruly behaviour, nobody appeared to be particularly moved by it all, just a few people arriving either on foot or by car who stopped, walked around a bit, looked at stones, left again.
In the Middle Ages they used to burn people like you at the stake . . .Was that before or after the weekend of 15+16 September 2012? Apparently, the local amigos association had organised a cleaning action / jornada de limpieza y dignificación on that weekend. And we were there at the end of August during another year and I found the pole and the immediate vicinity remarkably clean but again, I knew that they had a major cleaning operation a month earlier because of the annual local pilgrimage to the chapel.
We always see just a snapshot. We had a long and very pleasant midday rest there, there are picnic tables on both sides of the road, we saw no buses, no unruly behaviour, nobody appeared to be particularly moved by it all, just a few people arriving either on foot or by car who stopped, walked around a bit, looked at stones, left again.
Plus ca change and all that.I have just been reading Nancy Frey's 1998 Pilgrim Stories. In it she talks about votive offerings left at the Cruz in the mid-1990s and has a couple of photographs showing these. I have no recollection of seeing anything other than stones in 1990 but I may have been lucky enough to have passed by after a clean-up. She also notes the laughter of a Dutch foot pilgrim who saw groups drive up in cars, lift rocks from the ground and add them to the heap, then drive away again. Seems that not all that much has changed in 25 years after all...
This is not meant as a criticism only a question. Are tourists or others who travel to only Santiago considered pilgrims? Or are they tourists who want to visit an historic site or religious people who want to come to because of their deep faith. I am seriously just asking for clarity. Would the church, as an example refer to them as Pilgrims?With respect to tour buses and tourists, before I walked my first camino, a friend from work, an aging and frail priest, shared with his co-workers some of his travel experiences on the Frances by bus. I may be mistaken, but it is my impression that a majority of pilgrims travel to Santiago by public transport. As they are in groups, their photo taking in public places may sometimes be distracting; they may not, as individuals, take more photos than the average walking pilgrim who posts such photos on this forum.
This is not meant as a criticism only a question. Are tourists or others who travel to only Santiago considered pilgrims? Or are they tourists who want to visit an historic site or religious people who want to come to because of their deep faith. I am seriously just asking for clarity. Would the church, as an example refer to them as Pilgrims?
Yes indeed, what does it matter?Fair questions: what are people considered to be (pilgrims, tourists), by whom, and does it matter ?
First of all: You had me in stitches with your earlier comment.Plus ca change and all that.
You always dig deep, Kathar1na. I appreciate the time you invest in researching many historical subjects and questions forum members often have relating to the Camino...thank you.First of all: You had me in stitches with your earlier comment.
Secondly, some things have changed a bit, though. I came across a description by a group of Spanish pilgrims who walked in 1986. It's the oldest photo of the Cruz de Ferro that I have seen to date. They write: The tradition is that each pilgrim must throw a stone backwards [debe lanzar de espaldas] at the foot of this cross, which he or she brings from his or her place of origin as a form of penance. It symbolizes that by passing through here one is freed from all the miseries of life: envy, selfishness, etc. Of course, neither we nor anyone else carries a stone from their place of origin, we took it there and then, and when we realized that there was not even one stone left, we had to go back. All the stones that were within half a kilometre were at the foot of the cross, forming a mound of several metres. ☺
BTW, difficult to say but it looks like there was a path and not a road in front of it.
View attachment 70157
Thanks for your reply. Very interesting to me your story about your Grandmother. About 22 years ago my wife and kids went to Lourdes. My wife was raised Catholic and I was raised Jewish. The interesting thing is that I found the procession in the evening much more profound than my Catholic wife. I was definitely moved alot more than she was. I hated the town as it is one big tacky souvenir shop. But the experience has always stayed with me. I also agree about who goes to the Cruz de Ferro, I can tell you I have been there twice. The first time there were rude tourists and the second time rude pilgrims. I was just wondering if the church or the people from the Pilgrim Office and any other related offices consider those just visiting the city as Pilgrims also. Nothing more or less and I would love an answer from anyone who may see this about who may enter the through the Puerto Santo during a holy year. This is without any judgement my questions are just a matter of curiosity. Nothing more. Now I really wish I knew, and WHO KNOWS WHY I EVEN CARE. I sure don't!Fair questions: what are people considered to be (pilgrims, tourists), by whom, and does it matter ? I do not really have the answers.
When questions like this come up, I always think of my grandmother. In the 50's she went to Lourdes, in a bus, together with other people from the catholic church in her village.
I do not know if she considered herself to be a pilgrim or a tourist (as I don't know whether these words had any meaning for her) and I do not know whether the church referred to her as a pilgrim (and I do not think she would have really cared).
I do know that her faith was a reason for wanting to visit Lourdes, that her trip to Lourdes was really important for her, and that the little statue of Virgin Mary she bought there had a special meaning for her. And it still has a special place in my house.
I always have to think about my grandmother when I see people complaining about the 'busloads of tourists' arriving at the Cruz del Ferro, as if there is a reason why this place should be reserved for 'walkers only'.
Some may have considered my grandmother as a tourist arriving in a bus, buying a tacky souvenir. But there is always more to the picture than meets the eye.
My house should beWell the tour-buses are there already. But how about a stall selling stones from all around the world. “Lighten Your Load”, we import your burden for you
You can be whatever you want to beYes indeed, what does it matter?
As far as I'm concerned, if someone considers themselves to be a pilgrim, then they are a pilgrim.
Ah, the thirst for knowledge ☺. Anyone can go through the opened Holy Door during a Jacobean Holy Year such as 2021 (or during the recent Year of Mercy in 2016), also called Door of Pardon, there are no pre-conditions. Also, the faithful who wish to obtain the special graces ("plenary indulgence") don't even have to go through the opened Holy Door to obtain them. This door is not a magic door and there is no magic thinking involved, it has a symbolic function, it is something traditional and rare that makes a special occasion even more special for the faithful.Nothing more or less and I would love an answer from anyone who may see this about who may enter the through the Puerto Santo during a holy year. This is without any judgement my questions are just a matter of curiosity. Nothing more. Now I really wish I knew, and WHO KNOWS WHY I EVEN CARE.
BTW, difficult to say but it looks like there was a path and not a road in front of it.
Thank you. I obviously have too much time on my hands and I've developed two small obsessions around this topic: finding the first report of a non-local pilgrim or other traveller from far away who actually brought a stone from home and finding something historically reliable about the use of the term 'Mercury mounts'. Both quests largely in vain so far, nothing I found goes further back than 1800-and-something at best. ☺I appreciate the time you invest
I guess you mean "as it is now" or as you remember it when you were there. It reminded me of another report by two Spanish brothers who walked in 1976, ie ten years earlier than when the photo above was taken. They write: We were perfectly aware of the existence of a passage through some semi-abandoned villages of the [area that is called] Maragatería, such as El Ganso, Rabanal, Foncebadón and the famous Cruz del Ferro, but the answer that we received to our questions made us give up the idea of walking there because the dirt track ends in Manjarín and does not reappear until El Acebo. We were not going to find anything to buy food and it was most likely that we would get lost on that old path of the [Galician] reapers that had not been trodden on for more than two decades.I'm sure the new plans will be lovely when completed, but I think my preference will always be to have it left "as is".
Simply stating explicitly what has been the case in practice for a long time. The understanding of the pilgrimage as essentially a Christian practice (and more specifically Catholic) giving way to a much less clearly defined concept of spirituality. I think it is no coincidence that the best selling English language Camino guide for a number of years now is written by someone whose own spiritual background is not in conventional Christianity but comes from a milieu of esoteric mysticism. Some time back @Kathar1na posted statistics from Roncesvalles collected in 1987. Of those recorded there that year all but 5 declared themselves to be Christians with the vast majority being Roman Catholic. With only one individual declaring themselves to be non-religious. Extraordinary when compared to the situation today.It's the consolidation of the move to 'universal spirituality'.
This is true, we were told the same in 2012 and shown photos of the clean up in the restaurant of the private albergue, Convento de Foncebadon where we stayed. We also encountered tour buses then even early in the morning. This is an extract from my dairy for that day.I was told by a local in El Acebo that every now and then the rubbish trucks move in with a front end loader and clean it up. I don't know if that is true or it is only cleaned by hand. I do know that on each of the five or six times I've been there it has looked different - sometimes almost bare, sometimes like a rubbish tip.
If you plan to leave anything there, be aware that your precious item might finish up in landfill somewhere.
I was just wondering if the church or the people from the Pilgrim Office and any other related offices consider those just visiting the city as Pilgrims also. This is without any judgement my questions are just a matter of curiosity. Nothing more. Now I really wish I knew, and WHO KNOWS WHY I EVEN CARE. I sure don't!Maybe I will ask it in a thread question but I am afraid it will be picked apart no matter how much I say there is no judgement just curiosity. Do you think I should risk it????
I do not think that you are likely to find a simple definitive answer to that one. No one at the cathedral is likely to say officially that anyone who visits the shrine of the Apostle is not a pilgrim. Before the 1993 Holy Year there was no minimum distance for receiving a Compostela. You spoke with one of the cathedral staff - usually the canon with special responsibility for welcoming pilgrims. If he thought you were a pilgrim you received a Compostela. No mucking about with checking for two sellos per day or making sure that you had walked the last 100km on an approved route. With the ever more restrictive Compostela rules the cathedral now makes a de facto distinction between walkers/cyclists/equestrians and everyone else but they are not going to state publicly that if you have not walked then you are not a pilgrim. In the great majority of pilgrimage sites around the world your mode of transport is irrelevant. It is a peculiar Santiago fixation.I do share your curiosity as to whether the church may consider people visiting Santiago (or the Cruz de Ferro, for that matter) as pilgrims, although they do not qualify for a Compostela.
I don't know whether they regard the Cruz de Ferro site as a pilgrimage site - other than that there's a chapel from 1982 and a minor annual local pilgrimage in July - but the kind of trips you described when you wrote about your grandma's trip to Lourdes are regarded as pilgrimages.I do share your curiosity as to whether the church may consider people visiting Santiago (or the Cruz de Ferro, for that matter) as pilgrims, although they do not qualify for a Compostela.
I meant as in when I've been there in 2015, and 2017. Quite a few painted stones among the natural stones and laminated photos, poems and trinkets usually in memory of the deceased. I found it sobering to look at in spite of the "mess" it creates. There was a thread over a year ago about this...those in favor of leaving the items and those who see it as tacky littering of the environment.I guess you mean "as it is now" or as you remember it when you were there.
I don't know whether they regard the Cruz de Ferro site as a pilgrimage site - other than that there's a chapel from 1982 and a minor annual local pilgrimage in July - but the kind of trips you described when you wrote about your grandma's trip to Lourdes are regarded as pilgrimages.
n open-air Bussgottesdienst where I'm not sure what that is (penitential service?)
Personally, I don't think that better parking options and contemporary landscaping are the biggest change here. It's the consolidation of the move to 'universal spirituality'.
Simply stating explicitly what has been the case in practice for a long time. The understanding of the pilgrimage as essentially a Christian practice (and more specifically Catholic) giving way to a much less clearly defined concept of spirituality.
Thank you. I obviously have too much time on my hands and I've developed two small obsessions around this topic: finding the first report of a non-local pilgrim or other traveller from far away who actually brought a stone from home and finding something historically reliable about the use of the term 'Mercury mounts'. Both quests largely in vain so far, nothing I found goes further back than 1800-and-something at best. ☺
... but they are not going to state publicly that if you have not walked then you are not a pilgrim
In the great majority of pilgrimage sites around the world your mode of transport is irrelevant. It is a peculiar Santiago fixation.
Step into one of the larger churches in a diocese and look at the posters there: you will often find an announcement for an upcoming pilgrimage by bus or plane to a major European pilgrimage site such as Lourdes, Fatima or Rome, or a major national pilgrimage site such as Lisière in France, Altötting in Germany or Loreto in Italy. I think outside of Spain, Compostela isn't high on their lists and has only become better known in the wake of the increasing popularity of walking a Camino in recent years.
I was going to say that bus pilgrims and long distance Camino pilgrims inhibit two different worlds and rarely meet but then I had a look at actual programs and the Camino de Santiago may be an exception.
My house should be
A House of Prayer
But you have made it
A Den of Thieves
Country code ".cl" in the web address? Fiestas patrias? 2009-09-11? That must be a different Santiago than the one in GaliciaThere are typically hundreds of thousands of pilgrims in Santiago on the 25th July alone ... (often over a million people -- https://www.cooperativa.cl/noticias...ago-para-estas-fiestas/2009-09-11/092014.html ; and this is a religious festival, so yep, pilgrims)
Country code ".cl" in the web address? Fiestas patrias? 2009-09-11? That must be a different Santiago than the one in Galicia.
I saw this today in an English cathedralI know, in fact the local church from my grandmom's village still organises pilgrimages to Lourdes, and also local pilgrimages. It just strikes me that (as far as I know) no certificates are given to the participants - they just know why they are doing this, and do not need a written proof of participation - I just wonder why this has become so important in the context of pilgrimages to Santiago. But I am going off-topic a bit.
I saw this today in an English cathedralI know, in fact the local church from my grandmom's village still organises pilgrimages to Lourdes, and also local pilgrimages. It just strikes me that (as far as I know) no certificates are given to the participants - they just know why they are doing this, and do not need a written proof of participation - I just wonder why this has become so important in the context of pilgrimages to Santiago. But I am going off-topic a bit.
But if one views the whole concept of walking pilgrimage to Santiago objectively from the outside as a religious or sociological phenomenon I find it impossible to agree that it has not changed in perception radically.
I think you make a very valid point here. But as someone who lives within that anglophone bubble it is the perceptions and practices of those who come from places without a historic Catholic majority tradition that have the most immediate interest and impact for me. They are the group I most easily identify with and the ones for which I can most easily discern such large-scale shifts in thinking and practice.It's certainly possible to enclose oneself into an anglophone bubble of perceptions, but what I find among most Italians, French, Spanish, Catalans, etc is how constant the perceptions and practices have been over the past 37 years of my pilgrimages.
I think you make a very valid point here. But as someone who lives within that anglophone bubble it is the perceptions and practices of those who come from places without a historic Catholic majority tradition that have the most immediate interest and impact for me. They are the group I most easily identify with and the ones for which I can most easily discern such large-scale shifts in thinking and practice.
So, in 1976 was already known as Cruz de Ferro. (No Hierro) and they knew about the Galician reapers.I guess you mean "as it is now" or as you remember it when you were there. It reminded me of another report by two Spanish brothers who walked in 1976, ie ten years earlier than when the photo above was taken. They write: We were perfectly aware of the existence of a passage through some semi-abandoned villages of the [area that is called] Maragatería, such as El Ganso, Rabanal, Foncebadón and the famous Cruz del Ferro, but the answer that we received to our questions made us give up the idea of walking there because the dirt track ends in Manjarín and does not reappear until El Acebo. We were not going to find anything to buy food and it was most likely that we would get lost on that old path of the [Galician] reapers that had not been trodden on for more than two decades.
In the UK we used to refer to hardware shops as "ironmongers". A term going out of use. In Spain the equivalent term is ferreteria. If the correct castellano term for iron is "Hierro" then why are the shops not known as hierrateria or something similar? A puzzling bit of etymologySo, in 1976 was already known as Cruz de Ferro. (No Hierro) and they knew about the Galician reapers.
But they say Cruz del Ferro which is incorrect.
I wonder if they knew what Ferro means.
So, in 1976 was already known as Cruz de Ferro. (No Hierro) and they knew about the Galician reapers.
But they say Cruz del Ferro which is incorrect.
I wonder if they knew what Ferro means.
Ok I agree that a non Galician speaker (from Spain) should know what Ferro means because Ferreteria.In the UK we used to refer to hardware shops as "ironmongers". A term going out of use. In Spain the equivalent term is ferreteria. If the correct castellano term for iron is "Hierro" then why are the shops not known as hierrateria or something similar? A puzzling bit of etymology
I thought that the reason for the name Ferro came from the Romeria organized by the Centro de Galicia de Ponferrada.
And I've no idea where your "del" comes from, never seen it anywhere ...
From a post by @Kathar1na talking about two Spaniards doing the Camino in 1976. See my first post about this.
Yes, but that Romeria was not the origin of the name Ferro. Was it ?
The booklet is written by Fernando Lalando who was a student in Madrid at the time but I don't know when it was published. Yes, he uses the expression Cruz del Ferro in the booklet. He mentions that his brother had seen something on the TV about the Camino de Santiago and that 1976 was a Holy Year, and that gave them the idea to walk from Roncesvalles to Santiago.So, in 1976 was already known as Cruz de Ferro. (No Hierro) and they knew about the Galician reapers.
But they say Cruz del Ferro which is incorrect. I wonder if they knew what Ferro means.
I have the impression that they certainly knew more about the background in 1976 than many who walk today in 2021 ...
Thank you for your words.@Pelegrin, put
"cruz del ferro" site:.es in exactly this form into Google. Some of the results are surprising. You may well be right, it may be because the writer doesn't know what it means? Thanks for pointing this out. It hadn't occurred to me. But you know more about how words are spoken in these areas than all of us together.
Thank you for your words.
This was only an anecdote. But I'm trying to find out why there is a Galician word in the name. I sent an email to the Centro de Galicia de Ponferrada to see if they can help me.
If I get something I let you know.
Though in the 1980s before Galician language campaigners won official recognition for using Galego in place names and official signs the village was known as El Cebreiro or just Cebreiro. I have a copy of Valina's 1985 guidebook here which uses 'El Cebreiro'. As he was its parish priest for many years and a Galician himself I think he can be trusted as an authority on the matterIt's actually rather unusual that a place name should be a mutable & variable in this manner, and as a stark contrary example -- O Cebreiro most certainly is not and never is !!
Maybe Valiña wrote "El Cebreiro" but the official name was "El Cebrero".Though in the 1980s before Galician language campaigners won official recognition for using Galego in place names and official signs the village was known as El Cebreiro or just Cebreiro. I have a copy of Valina's 1985 guidebook here which uses 'El Cebreiro'. As he was its parish priest for many years and a Galician himself I think he can be trusted as an authority on the matter
Please do. I came across some sources where Cruz de Ferro and Cruz del Ferro are mentioned. Both terms were used by Spanish writers around 1900 and earlier (in a novel resp. in a play). No mention of any pebbles. I found it interesting because the context is not one of sacredness and spirituality as we learn it through the Camino media that we consume but rather the need of leaving Galicia and of working life far from home and of having to pass the Cruz de Ferro in this context - a physical gateway. It was not only the Galician men and women who had to find seasonal work in the Castilian fields but also those - a "real army of people" - who had to go to Madrid to earn a living at the court as "lackeys, porters, handymen and housemaids".I'm trying to find out why there is a Galician word in the name. I sent an email to the Centro de Galicia de Ponferrada to see if they can help me. If I get something I let you know.
I did not take photographs on my 1990 Camino Frances walk but my vague recollection is that the area around the Cruz was much more open at the time. I do remember being surprised at the surrounding trees in 2016.What I find interesting in the 1986 photo in post #31 is the absence of trees. The photo that follows at post # 39 shows trees but they seem very small. Was this area reforested?
And you put this question to a Centro de GaliciaThe thing is why Ferro became the "official name" in a non-Galician speaking area like Foncebadon where the word is Fierro/Hierro. That's the question.
The thing is why Ferro became the "official name" in a non-Galician speaking area like Foncebadon where the word is Fierro/Hierro.
That's the question.
I guess what you saw were stones without paint or writing on them? If I could wish for it, I would like it to be like this: no asphalt road, no chapel, no explanatory notice boards, no mementos of any kind, and if possible no people. Not even the sun dial although it was fun to stand on it and explore it. I'm still in two minds about the picnic tables (as we made use of them), perhaps just a bench or two? And then there are the two or more huge trash containers in plain view that never appear on any photo ...I have just been reading Nancy Frey's 1998 Pilgrim Stories. In it she talks about votive offerings left at the Cruz in the mid-1990s and has a couple of photographs showing these. I have no recollection of seeing anything other than stones in 1990 but I may have been lucky enough to have passed by after a clean-up.
That was quick and fast and clear. Here is a more detailed account in the Diaro de León newspaper. The Commission of Heritage and Culture for Castilla y León reported favourably on the proposal concerning the layout and pavement of the LE-142 road, the creation of a rest area in the woods behind the chapel, the provision of a parking area and water, electricity and sanitary facilities, as well as the installation of information signs. However, the Commission reported unfavourably on the rest of the proposed measures: for some of these measures because of non-compliance with Cultural Heritage Law 12/2002; other proposals, specifically the proposal to fit out the area around the Cruz de Ferro with foreign [alien] decorative elements - the footbridge and the recreation area for pilgrims [water area around the Cruz for foot baths and rest] - were not approved as they are measures "not in keeping with the origin and current meaning of this area".It seems that the planned redevelopment has only received partial approval with the idea of a service building and a causeway to the cross itself being rejected.
That is true about a number of "traditions" which seem to have gained currency in recent years. Like burning clothes at Fisterra or indeed the growing practice of continuing on to Fisterra at all. Or the recently invented 'shell ceremony' where prospective pilgrims are given a shell and a blessing before they leave home. Some time ago I read a post arguing that the custom is that the shell you carry should be given to you by a pilgrim who had already made the journey. News to meIn the contemporary descriptions and reports about the Cruz de Ferro it is often overlooked that actually very little is known about it and that most of the narrative about former purpose and current [universally accepted] meaning is pure speculation. All that is known it that travellers added a stone there.
I try to look benignly on all these developments, with the exception of everything that amounts to the visual and material pollution of our environment. New traditions have to start at one point and they may well be beneficial for many. But I'm also amazed about this need to believe that they are old traditions.That is true about a number of "traditions" which seem to have gained currency in recent years.
Back again to the nameIn numerous contemporary descriptions and reports about the Cruz de Ferro it is often overlooked that actually very little is known about its origin and that most of the narrative about former purpose and current (universally accepted) meaning is pure speculation which I think is one reason for the occasional friction and disappointment of camino pilgrims. All that is really known about it is that travellers threw a stone onto a pile of stones.
Always great to hear straight from a local sourceAlso the Romeria organized every year by the Centro de Galicia de Ponferrada with Cruz de Ferro in their posters has contributed.
In Spanish there is more information but not that relevant in my opinion.Would you say that the description in the Wikipedia article on the history of the National Day of Galicia is largely accurate?
That was quick and fast and clear. Here is a more detailed account in the Diaro de León newspaper. The Commission of Heritage and Culture for Castilla y León reported favourably on the proposal concerning the layout and pavement of the LE-142 road, the creation of a rest area in the woods behind the chapel, the provision of a parking area and water, electricity and sanitary facilities, as well as the installation of information signs. However, the Commission reported unfavourably on the rest of the proposed measures: for some of these measures because of non-compliance with Cultural Heritage Law 12/2002; other proposals, specifically the proposal to fit out the area around the Cruz de Ferro with foreign [alien] decorative elements - the footbridge and the recreation area for pilgrims [water area around the Cruz for foot baths and rest] - were not approved as they are measures "not in keeping with the origin and current meaning of this area".
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