To begin at the end: the remains of the apostle Saint James (or Sant Iago, in Spanish) are believed to repose in an urn, in a tomb, in a crypt, in the looming medieval cathedral of the city named after him. Santiago de Compostela was built around the saint’s burial site, as revealed to a shepherd by a guiding star almost a millennium after the body was carried here by stone boat from Jerusalem, with angels guiding the way.
Or so the story goes. It has since led more than 1,000 years’ worth of pilgrims to this convergence point of myth and history, via the network of cross-country trails known as the Camino de Santiago. In 2022, a record 438,000 people completed one of those routes, some of them covering only the final 62 miles (or 124 miles for cyclists) required to qualify for the official pilgrim certificate, the Compostela. It’s a measure of how popular the pilgrimage has become, drawing not just the Catholic faithful but recreational trekkers, mountain bikers, group tours and solo travellers, coming to work off their worries — or a few extra pounds — in the wilds of the Iberian peninsula.
This story is from the July/August 2023 edition of National Geographic Traveller (UK).
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This story is from the July/August 2023 edition of National Geographic Traveller (UK).
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