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You make some wrong assumptions ☺. When the Xunta put the new mojones in place, the ones with the brass plates, they did not install a way marker with a 100,000 km brass plate. They installed one with a 99,930 km plate and one with a 100,757 km plate. They had also recalculated the distances with the result that everything had to be shifted by a few km.Can you tell me the exact location of this 100,000 km mojón? (My camera does not have GPS facility.) Has the mojón at Mirallos been given a 100,000 brass plate since Byrne's visit? If it has, I suppose it was stolen pretty quickly.
But nobody was even mentioning Compostelas or starting points in this thread so why bring it up? We were simply talking about the many wonders of the Xunta's mojones system past and present.I am not trying to start an argument here. What I am trying to do is to simply get people to get with the regular program and just start from Sarria like virtually everyone else.
If that is "the regular program" then perhaps that is what the cathedral should formally adopt and publicise? The decision to introduce an apparently arbitrary 100km minimum distance was taken by the cathedral authorities. One which seems to take little account of the physical geography of the region. Should it come as any great surprise that some people have chosen to interpret that rule quite literally and acted upon it? And why should the pilgrim office resent those who have chosen to comply so precisely with a rule introduced by their own governing body. It may not be what most of us might consider to be in the truest spirit of pilgrimage but then I would argue that neither was introducing a seemingly random minimum distance in the first place.I am not trying to start an argument here. What I am trying to do is to simply get people to get with the regular program and just start from Sarria like virtually everyone else.
But nobody was even mentioning Compostelas or starting points in this thread so why bring it up? We were simply talking about the many wonders of the Xunta's mojones system past and present.
I mean, the moment the remaining distance drops into the 2-digit range for the first time ... that's HUGE.
Some people are just trying to locate weird bits on the Caminos. For example, we still haven't managed to locate that cemetery ...Because that issue (shaving the distance), in my experience, is always behind the question. Otherwise, why even bring it up? So rather than waste time dancing around the issue, I chose to address the issue head on.
If the cathedral says 100 km is all that is needed, then nobody is shaving anything off by wanting to start at the 100 km mark.Because that issue (shaving the distance), in my experience, is always behind the question. Otherwise, why even bring it up?
So rather than waste time dancing around the issue, I chose to address the issue head on.
The one shown in the screenshot below. @Bert45 who started this thread about the 100 km waymarker has a long running thread about the more obscure locations in the movie "The Way" which lead to some delightful discoveries of places that are not on the Camino Frances, not only but also thanks to local knowledge. Someone recently suggested that this cemetery is most likely next to a small chapel. You can pull some mechanism outside next to the door and it rings a bell. It seems to be in a hilly area. And just in case someone jumps again to wrong conclusionswhich cemetery?
I get the impression, actually, that the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. First, consider this: Distancias mínimas para dar la credencial y recibir la Compostela. This was published in July 2019, by the Federación Española de Asociaciones de Amigos del Camino de Santiago no less and the source for this information is the Oficina del Peregrino no less. So: Barbadelo which is a few kilometres to the west of Sarria. Then consider this: Estadísticas by the very same source and look at the Lugar de salida for monthly statistics or the Lugar de comienzo for annual statistics and you will find, among many others, Sarria, Barbadelo and Ferreiros which is even further to the westAnd why should the pilgrim office resent those who have chosen to comply so precisely with a rule introduced by their own governing body. It may not be what most of us might consider to be in the truest spirit of pilgrimage but then I would argue that neither was introducing a seemingly random minimum distance in the first place.
Thank you for that link. Interesting reading. I note that it lists Ferrol as the necessary starting point on the Camino Ingles. But I was offered a Compostela on the basis that I had unintentionally walked 102km on a recognized route by joining the Ingles at Neda as part of a longer journey. Very odd and it does indeed suggest a lack of clear and consistent communication somewhere along the line.I get the impression, actually, that the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. First, consider this: Distancias mínimas para dar la credencial y recibir la Compostela. This was published in July 2019, by the Federación Española de Asociaciones de Amigos del Camino de Santiago no less and the source for this information is the Oficina del Peregrino no less.
I, too, question the accuracy of placing the markers precisely to the third decimal place (one meter). When I first saw the new mojones, I had to laugh at the absurdity. Plus, when we walked the Camino Portugués in 2017, some of the markers were out of sequence -- markers farther from Santiago showed less distance than ones closer. I just don't understand why anyone is so obsessed with the deviation of a few meters, or even a km or two, in a journey of several hundred km. Most of us add a considerable distance just by veering a hundred meters of the marked path for a cup of café con leche now and then -- to say nothing of making up for the wrong turns that we all invariably make....
Plus, there is the issue of validity of the location of these mojones. Can you certify that the Xunta actually validated the precise distance and placed that marker there, or did someone move the mojone in a benign act of vandalism? You can never be absolutely certain.
...
Because some people like to celebrate milestones (as it wereBecause that issue (shaving the distance), in my experience, is always behind the question. Otherwise, why even bring it up?
So rather than waste time dancing around the issue, I chose to address the issue head on.
I assume that the blue dots show the Camino Francés between Sarria and Pinza (?), but what do the white dots represent? And what is the grey line going through Vilei and Baxán? If the old 100 km marker was in Pinza, the route has been changed as it no longer goes through Pinza, unless there is a complementario going that way. I've had a look on Streetview (image capture August 2014) at the road going through Pinza and I saw no sign of any mojones (but, of course the mojones could be on a footpath that Streetview did not explore). I asked Google Maps to show a pedestrian route from Sarria to Morgade going through Baxán, and it veered off northwards before going through Pinza. It would help (me) if some of those villages had signs naming them. I don't remember seeing signs for Vilei, Baxán, or A Brea.
1993When did the 100 km minimum come in?
I, too, question the accuracy of placing the markers precisely to the third decimal place (one meter). When I first saw the new mojones, I had to laugh at the absurdity. Plus, when we walked the Camino Portugués in 2017, some of the markers were out of sequence -- markers farther from Santiago showed less distance than ones closer. I just don't understand why anyone is so obsessed with the deviation of a few meters, or even a km or two, in a journey of several hundred km. Most of us add a considerable distance just by veering a hundred meters of the marked path for a cup of café con leche now and then -- to say nothing of making up for the wrong turns that we all invariably make.
Every ice cream shop is cause for celebration and worthy of a prolonged stopI stopped at an ice cream shop about 100m from the bagpipers tunnel for a good hour I felt no need to rush to the square.
The problem is that modern technology can't cope with "about" - I've worked with young engineers who would punch 2 + 2 (literally) into a calculator before writing down the answer . . . And the number of times I've checked calculations where the result has been 150.345 mm (in road construction?) or somesuch beggars belief.When I first saw the three decimal distance mahones, I chuckled, shook my head, shrugged, and presumed that the engraver was being paid by the letter / digit. Anything over one decimal place is wasted.
I walked in stages. I like to mention this because this may make my experience and feelings different from others who don’t do it this way. When I started, Santiago was so far away that I didn’t work with a fixed number in km as the distance, it was just “far far away”. I wasn’t even certain that I would ever reach it on foot, nor was this a great concern in the beginning. I didn’t even know at that point that one gets a Compostela in the endGetting to within the last 100 km and seeing two digits of distance instead of three is another.
In summer 2015 I walked from Canterbury to Rome. Mostly on the Via Francigena. I very deliberately did not work out or record my daily distances or calculate how far I still had to go until I was very close to Rome itself. It is a very long way and ticking off tiny sections on a map each day would not have made it seem much closerWhen I started, Santiago was so far away that I didn’t work with a fixed number in km as the distance, it was just “far far away”.
So, why bother yourself...?
This isn't addressed to you personally, @hel&scott, I just use the quote for a general comment, and my question is: Is everyone psychic around here, apart from @Bert45 and me and perhaps one or two others? Must everyone feel about anything to do with the Caminos like oneself does, must everyone be interested in the same things as oneself in exactly the same way? And is there a thing called Saviour syndrome perhaps?I am really saddened by this, I like Ed but does it matter where a British comedian stops for a photo op, or where the minimum distance for a certificate starts?
I am really saddened by this, I like Ed but does it matter where a British comedian stops for a photo op, or where the minimum distance for a certificate starts?
I had another would be pilgrim visit today and when I tried to explain what it was like to disconnect from the world and walk for days in the foot step of others all they wanted to know was what was the minimum in terms of time / cost/ effort and where the best selfie spots were. I could not believe that they had flown half way across the globe to visit "clean green NZ" for a couple of weeks and were looking for the next quick fix cheap place to go to... so I sent them to the back of the farm to cut ink weed and thistles.
Neda as a starting point is a time honoured tradition. In 2010, there were 1315 pilgrims who started in Neda and were granted their Compostela. And 22 pilgrims who started in Mirallos (Ferreiros). With the internet being what it is, that knowledge cannot be wiped out in the collective memory. Did they already have mojones in 2010 or was it yellow arrows only?Thank you for that link. Interesting reading. I note that it lists Ferrol as the necessary starting point on the Camino Ingles. But I was offered a Compostela on the basis that I had unintentionally walked 102km on a recognized route by joining the Ingles at Neda as part of a longer journey. Very odd and it does indeed suggest a lack of clear and consistent communication somewhere along the line.
One has to distinguish between mojon mobility as such and the Big Mojon Shift a few years ago. This is documented for example by a photo taken in Sarria not too long ago. A shop for weaponry, hunting, fishing and pilgrim needs had opted for the name Kilometro112 and had a cute and appropriate logo designed while their Xunta approved distance to Santiago was 112 km. They still use the photo of the 112 km waymarker as their avatar on FB. Then a new calculation was made and new mojones were installed all the way from O Cebreiro to Santiago and now the km112 shop has to live with a mojon outside on their very own pavement that says km114,736. ☺My Spanish was good enough to thank them for their service, but not good enough to chat about mojon mobility.
There was a nice big xxx km to Santiago painted on the side of a building in Villadangos del Paramo a few years ago that was substantially higher than the one before it.
If memory serves, the sello at the first bar in Morgade still has the old official km number on it.
The discrepancies add to the flavour.
A dear friend and fellow pilgrim who claims to be a "Buddhist/Catholic" claims there is no such entity as "Santiago de Compostela" until the very last day. She never walks to Santiago, she walks the current stage and is thankful to reach her goal by the end of the day and the next day she walks the current stage and is thankful to reach her goal by the end of the day . . .I walked in stages. I like to mention this because this may make my experience and feelings different from others who don’t do it this way. When I started, Santiago was so far away that I didn’t work with a fixed number in km as the distance, it was just “far far away”. I wasn’t even certain that I would ever reach it on foot, nor was this a great concern in the beginning. I didn’t even know at that point that one gets a Compostela in the end. But I clearly remember having a coffee in the bar in Ferreiros which is next to a 100,xxx km marker and thinking, wow, I’ve done it, I’m practically there, another 5 days max, it’s nothing. It was a great feeling.
There were other crucial markers like this but they were of a different nature. The Pyrenees were one of these markers (the first sight of them in the distance was very memorable and so was seeing Spain lying ahead of me for the first time) and entering Galicia / O Cebreiro was another one.
I don't remember there being two bars in Morgade. I only saw Casa Morgade and their sello has 101.996 on it.There was a nice big xxx km to Santiago painted on the side of a building in Villadangos del Paramo a few years ago that was substantially higher than the one before it.
If memory serves, the sello at the first bar in Morgade still has the old official km number on it.
The discrepancies add to the flavour.
I don't remember there being two bars in Morgade. I only saw Casa Morgade and their sello has 101.996 on it.
so I sent them to the back of the farm to cut ink weed and thistles.
And then don't forget to scan it and send the scan to Los Sellos del Camino, a wondrous database of you guessed it the sellos of the Camino that gets regularly updated.So they have a new sello; I guess I have to go back to get the new one!
Does your GPS give latitude and longitude? And which 100 km marker are you talking about? The 100,000 or the one hand-drawn with a marker pen?The GPS from the 100km marker photo I took says “Paradela, Lugo, Spain”. In April, 2017 it was heavily graffitied.
The concrete or stone marker posts. More often seen in the plural 'mojones'.What is a mojón? A waymark? I've never heard this name until this week. Should I feel ignorant?
I personally become inwardly upset when the brass plates have been stolen, and in addition it leaves ugly glue behind. The three digits bother me far less...at least then the brass plate is still intact!You make some wrong assumptions ☺. When the Xunta put the new mojones in place, the ones with the brass plates, they did not install a way marker with a 100,000 km brass plate. They installed one with a 99,930 km plate and one with a 100,757 km plate. They had also recalculated the distances with the result that everything had to be shifted by a few km.
[Edited:] As pilgrims cannot live without a 100 km marker because they need it as background for their camino photo collections, they found a solution but I'm now more confused about this than ever.
As to the brass plates, I can't make up my mind about what I find more irksome: noticing that a brass plate has been stolen or seeing km distances for walkers expressed as a number with 3 digits after the decimal comma.
How do we get them to install one in our local town? The oldest church in Toronto happens to be the Cathedral of St. James. It might be a good location.I'm adding something to this thread that's not related to the 100 km marker on the Camino Frances but to the Galician Xunta's mojones as an iconic item and to their general project of drumming up yet more Camino business where I guess they view the international markets as particular promising.
The Xunta has now placed five Camino mojones abroad: one in front of the "Pope's Window" in Cracow in Poland; one next to the European Parliament building in Brussels in Belgium; one on the Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil; and one each in places "linked to Celtic culture" such as Glasgow in Scotland and Lorient in Britanny in France.
From what I read between the lines, the next one may appear in New York in 2020 and perhaps also in Italy.
Stop press: Only a few days ago, international mojon #6 has been installed by the Galician government. It's in the town of Pistoia in Italy.
I recently walked the famous/infamous last 100 km of the Camino Frances. Thinking of the many comments I've read on the forum, I now wonder whether I walked in a parallel universe because, at least as I remember it, nearly all the brass plates were in place, there was barely a discarded plastic bottle, beer can, coke can, wrapper or other rubbish in sight, and very few people were walking in the direction of Santiago and they all behaved impeccably. Oh, I also started at mojon km100,746 and yes, there's no public transport, you need to go there by taxi. And I didn't set foot into the Pilgrim Office in Santiago as I wasn't interested in a Compostela, a distance certificate or even a stamp.I personally become inwardly upset when the brass plates have been stolen, and in addition it leaves ugly glue behind.
I sometimes like to be contrary.
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