Examples of the wide variety of historical influences that go to make up modern day Spain can be found everywhere you look.



As befits a country that historically has been profoundly sacred there are numerous pilgrimage routes crossing the country and these are all wonderfully wealthy pieces of history that are well worth exploring.

if we take a look at one of the pilgrimage routes and the one in particular that we want to take a look at is the one that's in the northwest of Spain and is known as the way of St. James or the Camino de Santiago. Dating from the ninth century when it is alleged that the remains of St. James were buried in what is now known to be modern day Galicia in the ensuing centuries it has turned out to be one of the biggest pilgrimage sites in all of Christendom.

the story behind the waves and James is like a lot of other sacred shrines in that sometimes people do sometimes it hasn't them particularly here between the 16th and 17th century there was no one will put an interest in their own way of St. James. Possibly part of the reason for this may have been the alleged instructions from one of the popes of the day who stated that it was possible for prisoners who have been serving time in jail for minor misdemeanours that it might be possible for them to serve penance by undertaking a journey along the way of St. James.

Interest in this particular pilgrimage route was revised in the 20th century on the Way of St. James when UNESCO made Santiago de Compostela a world traditions site ? a site that now has since become the setting for one of the world's biggest pilgrimages.

Nowadays, Camino de Santiago the way of St. James is more than just a sacred pilgrimage route and has become a major visitor attraction whereby people merely pass along the route to appreciate the beauty and the remarkable traditions.

There are numerous starting off points for the way of St. James, the English route the French route and numerous Spanish routes. It has to be said that the most popular pilgrimage routes originate in France, leading from the north of France right down to Spain.

Nowadays unless you happen to be a completely devout, fervent and ardent pilgrim it is unlikely that you would travel the entire 760 common to route from Roncesvalles to Santiago de Compostela. Those who do manage the entire route claim that the hardship and suffering that they go through stands him in good stead for being able to appreciate the whole experience once they get to Santiago.

There are numerous markers long the way to help ensure that pilgrims do not deviate more than is necessary from the original route and the most common of these signs and markers are the ubiquitous yellow arrows that are found painted on trees and rocks along the way. Whether or not it is self interest but the system was accredited to Father Elias Valdinha who wanted to make sure that when pilgrims arrived to the end of the journey they were in reasonable shape.

A considerate man.