The Camino de Santiago

Popular Routes

The Camino de Santiago offers several popular routes, each with unique characteristics and historical significance. The Camino Francés, or French Way, is the most traveled path, attracting about 55% of all pilgrims. This route, starting from Saint Jean Pied de Port in the Pyrenees, is favored for its tradition and abundant facilities for travelers 1. The Camino Portugués begins at the Lisbon Cathedral, while the Camino del Norte follows the cooler coastal path from San Sebastián. Despite its challenges, the Camino Inglés remains the shortest route, historically used by pilgrims from England and Ireland 1.

Everyone who completes the trek and gets their certificate will have their name and the starting point of their pilgrimage read out loud at a pilgrim's mass at the cathedral, which is held twice a day at noon and 07:00 p.m.

--- Gary Arndt

The resurgence in popularity of these routes has seen pilgrim numbers soar, reaching 327,000 in 2018, with expectations of even higher numbers in holy years 1.

   

Pilgrimage Symbols

The Camino de Santiago is rich with cultural and symbolic traditions that enhance the pilgrimage experience. The scallop shell stands out as the most iconic symbol, marking the route and adorning churches along the way. Originally, pilgrims collected these shells in Galicia as proof of their journey, but they have since become a universal emblem of the pilgrimage 2. The shells also served practical purposes, such as being used as cups for water or food.

Many pilgrims would have a scallop shell carved on their tombstones to symbolize that they were a pilgrim.

--- Gary Arndt

Modern traditions include the pilgrim's passport, or credencial, which is stamped along the journey and presented in Santiago to receive a certificate of completion 2.