Useful information about the Camino of Saint James Pilgrimage and Santiago de Compostela

ESTELLA - LIZARRA

Posted in The Camino Villages.

ESTELLA / LIZARRA was repopulated and created as a settlement around 1090, by King Sancho Ramírez de Navarra and Aragón. There, merchants, nobles and clerics settled , whose existence was based on attending to the needs and to taking care of the pilgrims who arrived from all over Europe. Its connection with the Way of Santiago is evident in Codex Calixtino, that describes the town as being : "Fertile in good bread and excellent wine, as well as meat and fish, and supplied with all types of goods".

Puente Estella

 

The Collegiate Church of Sta. Maria de Roncesvalles

Posted in The Camino Villages.

Roncesvalles is a magical corner of northern Navarra, one of those places which once visited is never forgotten. It is located next to the French border at the foot of the Pyrenees, and owes its worldwide celebrity both to its natural beauty and to the fact that it was the place where one of the most legendary battles in the West took place: the Battle of Roncesvalles. The legendary battle occurred in 778 and went down in history for being the subject of “The Chanson de Roland”, the most famous epic poem of the Middle- Ages.

Colegiata de Roncesvalles. Foto Marianne Casamance

Ponferrada Castle

Posted in The Camino Villages.

The Castle of Ponferrada is popularly known as the Templars, because before being constructed as it appears today, the Knights Templar were present at the villa. The short and checkered relationship of the Templars with the town of Ponferrada led to the building of several fortifications and these are now the only vestiges of the original castle of Ponferrada.

The architecture of the present castle was probably begun in 1340, when the Knights Templar had already been dissolved and Pope Alfonso XI donated Ponferrada to Pedro Fernandez de Castro, a member of one of the most powerful families in Galicia. Ponferrada and its castle remained in the hands of the Galician branch of Castro until 1374, when it became a possession of the Royal Family.

Foto  jgaray. El Viejo Anselmo

Foto  jgaray. El Viejo Anselmo

Villafranca del Bierzo

Posted in The Camino Villages.

The village is located at the confluence of two rivers: Burbia and Valcarce. Almost surely its origin was due to the necessity of creating bridges so as to facilitate the passage to pilgrims, as happened with many other towns on the Way. Thus there is good reason to suppose that, it probably developed with the start of the pilgrimages to Santiago in the 9th century, being in the days of the Codex Calixtinus (12th century) an important nucleus that appears as the end of its tenth stage.

FOTO DE LANCASTERMERRIN88 PANORÁMICA DE CRISTÓBAL MEGIDO ALMARAZ

Foto de LAcastermerrin88. Panorámica de Cristóbal Megido Almaraz

Astorga

Posted in The Camino Villages.

The town of Astorga with its more than 11,000 inhabitants, is one of the most important centers that crosses the Camino de Santiago, particularly known for the richness of its historical and artistic heritage. It also occupies a privileged geographical place on the Way, being the point where the French Way crosses the old Silver Way.

ASTORGA : FOTO DE ÁNGEL M. FELICÍSIMO

Photo Angel M Felicisimo

Ultreia Ring

Anillos Ultreia Rings Camino de Santiago

Jewels of the Camino

pilgrim woman jimena jewels of the camino

 

Joyas del Camino

concha vieira camino santiago scallop shell