Historic photos of Camino Francés

[Yoyo]

In my parents' library, I came across a book (published in 1964) on romanesque art along the pilgrimage routes through France and Spain and thought I'd share a few of the pictures taken along the Camino Francés. While the art itself probably looks very much the same as it did 50+ years ago, the towns and villages have changed over the years, so those are the pictures I thought you might enjoy.

Saint Jean Pied de Port:





Valcarlos route:



Ruins of San Salvador de Ibañeta:

 

[Yoyo]

Roncesvalles:



Puente la Reina:

 

[Yoyo]

Roman bridge near Cirauqui:



Estella:

 

[Yoyo]

Sahagún, San Tirso:



Ponferrada:

 

[Yoyo]

Villafranca del Bierzo:





The old Portomarín, before it was flooded and rebuilt on higher grounds:

 

[jungleboy]

Wonderful, thanks for sharing!

Comparing the shot of Estella with mine from 2017:

 

[mspath]

Wonderful photos Yoyo thank you for sharing them with other digital readers. What is the title of that book published in 1964?

 

[Kanga]

So interesting. A great thread.

 

[epona2011]

Brillant thread. Thanks for taking time to do this. Love the old photos.

 

[Turga]

Great photos! Although many of them are recognizable, they still convey a strong impression of a bygone and very different time.

 

[Former member 42123]

Villafranca del Bierzo:

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The old Portomarín, before it was flooded and rebuilt on higher grounds:

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Thank you so much for these.Whilst it is not really that long ago it seems like ancient times.

 

[Yoyo]

Wonderful photos Yoyo thank you for sharing them with other digital readers. What is the title of that book published in 1964?

The book is:

Die große Wallfahrt des Mittelalters
Kunst an den romanischen Pilgerstraßen durch Frankreich und Spanien nach Santiago de Compostela

by Vera and Hellmut Hell

Our edition was published by some kind of book club. The copyright seems to be held by
Verlag Ernst Wasmuth, Tübingen 1964

 

[Yoyo]

@mspath In case you are interested in older publications on art and pilgrimage, this is the bibliography taken from the aforementioned book:

 

[mspath]

@mspath In case you are interested in older publications on art and pilgrimage, this is the bibliography taken from the aforementioned book:

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Yoyo,

Thank you for this bibliographic info. Perhaps there is an online copy of the book by Vera and Hellmut Hell to peruse. Do you know if they took the photos? Those black and white shots are so very evocative of a time that truly has disappeared.
Updated info. Later paperback versions also published by Verlag Wasmuth are available for sale on line.

 

[Charbias]

Villafranca del Bierzo:

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The old Portomarín, before it was flooded and rebuilt on higher grounds:

View attachment 72352

Thanks so much for sharing - loved looking at them

 

[Sue127]

Wonderful pictures thank you. What struck me immediately was the tranquility with the lack of transport.

 

[TaijiPilgrim]

Thank you!

 

[yesshesaid]

In my parents' library, I came across a book (published in 1964) on romanesque art along the pilgrimage routes through France and Spain and thought I'd share a few of the pictures taken along the Camino Francés. While the art itself probably looks very much the same as it did 50+ years ago, the towns and villages have changed over the years, so those are the pictures I thought you might enjoy.

Saint Jean Pied de Port:

View attachment 72335

View attachment 72336

Valcarlos route:

View attachment 72337

Ruins of San Salvador de Ibañeta:

View attachment 72338

These are lovely and very meaningful--thank you!!

 

[mike O Brien]

What a treasure to fine and thank you so much for sharing those wonderful pictures.
GRMA

 

[Yoyo]

Yoyo,

Thank you for this bibliographic info. Perhaps there is an online copy of the book by Vera and Hellmut Hell to peruse. Do you know if they took the photos? Those black and white shots are so very evocative of a time that truly has disappeared.
Updated info. Later paperback versions also published by Verlag Wasmuth are available for sale on line.

Yes, @mspath , Dr. H. Hell took all the pictures, except for two (There are 170 in total).
Glad you could find the book on line.

 

[Mike Blackard]

Yoyo, Great contribution to all of us. Thank you. I agree with Sue127 above. Also I was struck by how "lonely" the camino appears. Given that the first ever photo was taken in 1825, first camera made in 1865 by Johann Zahn, and George Eastman's "KODAK" camera using celluloid film was first sold in 1888, it is probably safe to assume that all of those photos were probably taken no earlier than 1900. So, really, we have only been taking camino photos for 120 years at most. Think of the legacy we can leave for pilgrims in 2120.

 

[OTH86]

Amazing, @Yoyo ! Thank you so much - I found quite a few books for sale using Bookfinder.com and entering German in the dropdown.

 

[lt56ny]

Villafranca del Bierzo:

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The old Portomarín, before it was flooded and rebuilt on higher grounds:

View attachment 72352

POST MORE!!
Thanks so much and thanks some more!!

 

[Juspassinthru]

Yoyo,

Thank you for this bibliographic info. Perhaps there is an online copy of the book by Vera and Hellmut Hell to peruse. Do you know if they took the photos? Those black and white shots are so very evocative of a time that truly has disappeared.
Updated info. Later paperback versions also published by Verlag Wasmuth are available for sale on line.

I bought a used hard cover, English edition this morning. Can’t wait.

 

[Nan]

Wonderful photos. Thank you.

 

[RENSHAW]

Fantastic pics , thank you so much for the share. As Sue has said , no cars , trucks , busses ........... only people and the odd donkey.

 

[trevorcc]

I miss not being there, but these photos make me think about the Camino in times gone and all those that have walked it, how lucky I have been. Thank you.

 

[BPG2017]

That was wonderful! Thanks so much!

 

[longwalker60]

Villafranca del Bierzo:

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The old Portomarín, before it was flooded and rebuilt on higher grounds:

View attachment 72352

Great pics...I feel so blessed to have have taken part of this spiritual adventure. Thank you

 

[Former member 2537]

Various editions of this historic book are out there online. Just ordered one of the original 1965 edition for a *very* reasonable price. A nice addition to my Camino bookshelf! Thanks!

 

[Desert Bruce]

Juspassinthrough, please tell me more about the English edition.

 

[Juspassinthru]

Juspassinthrough, please tell me more about the English edition.

Found a retired library version on Amazon for next to nothing. It has usual library markings and a few random marks. The pictures are incredible and the authors include information on the pictures and the history. I’ve always loved historical pictures of places I’ve been, it was a very different world/Spain/ Camino. There must be more pictures somewhere. If you can find a copy, I highly recommend you grab it.

 

[Marina Millar]

Villafranca del Bierzo:

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View attachment 72351

The old Portomarín, before it was flooded and rebuilt on higher grounds:

View attachment 72352

I have so enjoyed these photos they represent an essence of a bygone era that is still very much alive in our pilgrim heart , thank you!

 

[Yoyo]

POST MORE!!
Thanks so much and thanks some more!!

There are too many pictures (170 in total) to copy, sorry. Most are of the artwork you can find along the camino (in France as well as Spain), and I would guess the artwork itself hasn't changed much over the years. That's why I chose to post just the ones of the Camino Francés where you can get an idea of how some towns looked 60+ years ago. Glad you enjoyed them.

 

[jbear]

These are great. Thanks for posting. Seems like a lot of vintage stuff popping up lately. People are are probably not planning so they are researching instead.

 

[lt56ny]

There are too many pictures (170 in total) to copy, sorry. Most are of the artwork you can find along the camino (in France as well as Spain), and I would guess the artwork itself hasn't changed much over the years. That's why I chose to post just the ones of the Camino Francés where you can get an idea of how some towns looked 60+ years ago. Glad you enjoyed them.

Well than I am thankful for the ones that you shared. Stay safe.

 

[VNwalking]

I got a PDF for nothing that I can read on my kindle.
It looks amazing.
Thanks, Yoyo!


Edit. Times have changed a bit! (From pg 6, describing medieval pilgrimage - purists please note! ):

And the pilgrims themselves could be a pretty tough bunch: there were so many stabbings of pilgrims by pilgrims in the cathedral of Santiago (probably brought on by heavy drinking during feast days) that normal church functions were regularly interrupted because of the constant need to reconsecrate the church each time blood was shed within it, something that caused one medieval pope to grant Santiago the special privilege of an unusually brief reconsecration blessing.

 

[Roland49]

Wow!
Thank you for posting all those pictures.
Very interesting and informative!

 

[rappahannock_rev]

Found this on YouTube! Burgos, 1911.

And not a car in sight!

 

[Thornley]

Saint Jean Pied de Port:

A decade ago we went to an old shop in Bayonne after The Norte and got post cards of St JPP,
They were in the 1940's and truly beautiful.
We increased the size and framed , with HRH hanging these in her kitchen.

The only writing on them is bottom right ,
CAP in lovely script.
Have no idea what it means.
Maybe a company.


Love your photos Yoyo

 

[MisterH]

What amazed me is that so many of the roads have been improved. Thank you for the scans and information.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Burgos, 1911.
And not a car in sight!

And probably only a few today.
Thank you Rev.

 

[Saint Mike II]

Hola Yoyo - such great photography. The black and white reproductions are still very clear and in any case easily recognisable. The one that (to me) has changed is the area around the old Roman bridge at Cirauqui. The old stone road on the western side (foreground of photo) as far as I know no longer exists and the path down to the bridge on the eastern side is now concrete and a lot narrower. Now I know (a little) of what I missed by not having walked the Frances in the 1980's or early '90's. My photo taken in May 2017, see how much vegetation has grown around it. Thanks again

 

[Kanga]

Marvellous! Donkeys have disappeared from Spain over the course of my lifetime. The first time I visited, in the late 1970s, they were common.

Found this on YouTube! Burgos, 1911.

And not a car in sight!

 

[Pelegrin]

What amazed me is that so many of the roads have been improved. Thank you for the scans and information.

Especially in bad situation was Galicia. In 1970 it took 10 h minimum to drive from Madrid to Coruña (600 kms). Especially complicated and dangerous was the stretch Villafranca - Pedrafita do Cebreiro (PIedrafita del Cebrero at that time).
Most hamlets didn't have any road and therefore the locals had to walk kilometers to the next bus station.

 

[Desert Bruce]

I found a German copy at a German bookstore, but I've just been informed that shipping to the US is suspended, "due to the increasing spread of the Corona virus and the associated derivation or delivery restrictions, delivery to USA is currently not possible."

 

[Thornley]

Marvellous! Donkeys have disappeared from Spain over the course of my lifetime. The first time I visited, in the late 1970s, they were common.

We have found that we are spending more time in Burgos when we repeat or on the way to commence or after we finish a Camino .......... its a city we love.

 

[zenofmatthew]

Pictures inspired a little artwork. Thanks Yoyo!

 

[Bala]

Wonderful thread! Thanks to all who posted pictures, film, artwork, excerpts. All of it fascinating.

 

[rappahannock_rev]

Summer in Logrono 1932, Not a Pilgrim in Sight