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The Camino de Santiago was on our bucket list for years and in 2016 we walked the Camino Frances from Leon to Santiago in about 14 days.
We kept a blog 2016jaxcamino.blogspot.com on that trip and shortly after returning we decided we wanted to do it again, but on a different path.
Time for a short history/theology lesson. Christ instructed the Apostles for 40 days following his Resurrection and commissioned them to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). St. James visited what is now Spain and Portugal and preached along the Atlantic shore prior to his death in Jerusalem in 44 AD. His body was returned by sea, and after being hidden from pagans (Celts and Visigoths) and then the Moors, his remains were interned first in Portugal and then in Santiago in the 9th century.
The 9th century is earliest record of visits paid to Santiago de Compostela and the shrine dedicated to St. James the Great. In the 12th and 13th century 250,000 Europeans a year walked from their homes to Santiago. The number slowly declined until reaching a low of only 1,200 pilgrims 1975.
Pope John Paul II visited Santiago de Compostela in 1982, during his first pastoral visit to Spain. He launched his famous message to Europe: "I, Bishop of Rome and Pastor of the universal Church, from Santiago, send to you, old Europe, a cry full of love. Find yourselves again! Be yourself. Discover your origins. Long live your roots! "
With the "Pope John Paul II effect" the Camino started to grow again and by 1993, the year the route was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site, there were 100,000 pilgrims. By Holy Year 2010 those numbers reached 270,000, and Holy Year 2016 290,000. Last year there were 310,000.
About 60% walk the Frances route we did in 2016 and 25% walk the Portuguese we are walking this year.
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| All roads lead to Santiago |
Our walk this year is shorter (200 miles vs. 250 miles), so once we get to Santiago de Compestela we hope to walk the 54 miles to the ocean at Finisterra ("end of earth). It will be about 20 miles walking per day for two weeks.
We are starting in Porto, heading along the coast for one day, and then following the inland route to Santiago. The itinerary reads 'start in Porto end in Santiago' and we make it up each day along the way.
I am refeshing my Spanish, but will have to make do in Portugal with English. I don't have time for a third language except to change the "Buen Camino" greeting to "Bon Camino" until we cross into Spain at Tui.
Our 2016 route in green, our 2018 route in pink, and blue is the route to Finisterra that we hope to add on our last couple of days this time.
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| Northern Portugal and Northwestern Spain. All once the Kingdom of Galicia. |
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| Zoomed out for perspective. |
2018 Camino Portuguese 2018jaxcamino.blogspot.com
2016 Camino Frances 2016jaxcamino.blogspot.com
2015 Great Smoky Mountains 2015gsmowens.blogspot.com
