Coleen Clark
Active Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Walked August 2015, planning on walking August 2017
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Thank you Levi.Hi Coleen. Walking at moment and leaving Porto for Santiago on Friday. I haven't come across anywhere equivalent to the Cruz yet. But your question has made me think and I will let you know if I find that place. Bom Caminho!
There is no particular place that is a direct equivalent to the wonderfully moving Cruz de Ferro but I found many places along the Caminho Portuguese that would be appropriate to leave a small stone from home. You will see lots of small cairns and crosses but I am certain that you will also recognize the most appropriate spot for your own symbolic un-burdening. Bom Caminho.Camino Frances has Cruz de Ferro, where you leave the symbolic stone that carries all your burdens. I loved that part of my Camino, it was a high point. Now in August I will walk the Camino Portuguese, and I'm wondering if there is a like feature on this or any other route to Santiago? I've seen the photos others have posted and there are many churches, crosses, shrines etc on the way, just as there were on Frances, but is there a significant one, other than Fatima, which I plan on detouring to and visiting.
I do not think the Portuguese are amused if you treat the Cruz dos Franceses the same as the Cruz del Ferro. The monument was raised because of a battle against the troops of Napoleon in 1809.Olá,
there is a Cruz where pilgrims put their stones. It´s the Cruz dos Franceses between Ponte de Lima and Rubiães, about 600 m before the highest point Portela Grande. And not to forget the new Cruz they set up years ago down from Portela Grande.
I do not think the Portuguese are amused if you treat the Cruz dos Franceses the same as the Cruz del Ferro. The monument was raised because of a battle against the troops of Napoleon in 1809.
some years ago I read that they cleaned up the ground-organised by volonteers of the Ponte de Lima albergue around the Cruz dos Franceses also called o cruz dos mortes-the cross of the deaths- monument from all the stuff pilgrims left because this cross has nothing to do with pilgrimage . They asked kindly to leave nothing at the ground around the monument.so please respect this.
https://www.facebook.com/events/544016402352561/
Bom dia RainerOlá Albertinho,
Obrigadinho for your post. I have never seen the Cruz in its real beauty. On my first way there were only some stones around the Cruz. Later there were papers and other stuff, growing year by year. You are right, we should respect this monument.
This was the Cruz yesterday....View attachment 33269
I dislike immensely what has been done here. Shame! Perhaps I will simply throw a pebble in the water as I cross the bridge between Portugal and Spain.
Let's respect all monuments and stop burdening others with our need for symbolic gestures in places where they do not belong.You are right, we should respect this monument.
Colleen, there are many more ways to deface the Caminos than dumping unwanted items and graffiti. "Symbolic" items left here and there for one's own peace of mind or unburdening is also defacing the Caminos. Setting clothes on fire in Fisterra is also defacing the Camino (and illegal).Chief Seattle told us to "Take nothing but memories. Leave nothing but footprints."
For those of you compelled to dump unwanted items or make a permanent statement with graffiti on a mile marker, I say Shame on You.
If too many of us do that, will they need to dredge?I like the stone tossed from the bridge idea, between Valenca and Tui, VERY much. I may do the same.
Thanks for the idea.
Okay, you have me curious. After telling the story of what you did with your stone on the Portuguese Camino, are you really saying that if you were walking the Camino Frances, you might have just "simply toss[ed] the stone on a pile at Cruz de Ferro"? Or were you implying that anyone else "simply toss[es] the stone on a pile at Cruz de Ferro?To close the loop on this, when I walked across the bridge from Valenca to Tui a couple of weeks ago, I stopped at the international border line painted on the bridge. I had, several days previously, used a Sharpie marker to inscribe the stone to my father's memory.
There, I said several prayers privately, then read the Christian Prayer of Committal for a military burial at sea. Following that, I ceremonious dropped dad's stone over the rail into the river below. I followed this with a brisk hand salute, as I too am a veteran. Yes, I shed some tears, as this was my way of saying a final good bye to the man who shaped my character, and contributed into making me the person that I have become over nearly 64 years.
I had previously obtained this prayer on the web from the US Navy web site. My dad was a US Navy veteran from WWII. Although his cremains were placed in a columbarium with full military honors back in January, I felt this is something he would have appreciated. All his life he loved the water and the sea. He imbued each of his four children with an appreciation and love of the ocean. My mom is afraid of the water... Oh well...
As the oldest surviving son, it was something I could do for him, to honor him, so I did it. It was private, but it was meaningful to me, and I trust to my father.
Later, the next week, when I arrived at the Pilgrim Office, I had my Compostela inscribed "Vicare Pro" to dedicate this Camino to my late father.
Given the individual circumstances, commemorating the life and passing of this good man was better done in the middle of the international bridge separating Portugal and Spain, than simply tossing the stone on a pile at Cruz de Ferro.
I hope this helps.
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