Travel in Galicia
Spain, a hybrid of several regions and a mysterious country offers limited variety of choices to the visitors compared to many other countries in Europe. As visitors travel around this mysterious country, they will come across the ancient history of the medieval Spaniards and the former conquerors along with some other internal flavors. There are quiet of few pilgrimage and religious sites within the country as it suits a country which possesses an overwhelming religious background.
Galicia or Galiza is said to be a part of Green Spain and is up till now not been conquered by the huge tourism industry. It is in fact a highly recognized tourist destination for all the adventure travelers and thus a region to be unquestionably recommended. Still, in Galicia, it is very easy to find ancient hospitality that has become very hard to find in several other parts of Spain. Camino de Santiago de Compostela which is also popularly known as the Way of St James is one of the most famous pilgrimages which covers entire Europe. It is being said that if a person completes the entire journey at this pilgrimage, his or her sins can be forgiven.
This pilgrimages stands till date since the ninth century. This pilgrimage was not so famous, but during the 16th and the 17th century, prisoners made their way along this path in an attempt to pay penance. Later, in October 1987, this particular path was declared as the first cultural route to Europe by the Council of Europe. Thereafter, in the year 1993, this route was named as the World’s heritage sites of UNESCO. Today, the Way of St James or Camino de Santiago de Compostela is more than a religious pilgrimage route of Europe. It has developed as one of the main tourist attractions whereby thousands of tourists purely pass along this route in order to realize the historical heritage and beauty of this place.
The Way of St James has several starting points namely the French route, the English route and many Spanish routes. It is being said that most of the famous pilgrimage routes begin in France that lead from the north of France to Spain. All these pilgrimage routes that start from France come together and congregate in Roncesvalles, a town located in Navarre. In fact nowadays, most of the fervent and devoted pilgrim routes start from Roncesvalles along the Way of St James and proceed to Camino de Santiago de Compostela. On this route, the travelers pass through some of the historic villages and towns such as Burgos, Logrono and Navarre.
Many travelers on this route claim that while traversing this route, they experienced that they were mentally prepared to arrive at the Cathedral in Camino de Santiago de Compostela. By analyzing the visitor figures, it would appear that the French route is one of the most famous routes. This particular route ensures that the pilgrims do not get lost along this route as there are many yellow arrow route markers which are found along the route. In order to avoid confusion among the pilgrims and also to ensure that the pilgrims arrive at the Cathedral safely, Father Elias Valdinha laid these markers in the year 1970.