santiago history and maps

Walking from St-Jean-Pied-de-Port, France to Santiago de Compostela, Spain is a mere 777 km or 484 miles or 16 miles average per day for 30 days - for us, between October 1 to 30 October 2007. I join my sister, Susan and encourage others to join us. Ryan Air out of London or Frankfurt to Santiago or to Barritz is ridiculously cheap - cost of the entire thirty days walk with food and lodging is estimated to be about 1000 euros - about $50 per day. We will be adding photos and comments as we walk, mobile telephone may not be on full time but you can reach us a 1303 888 8099 or to garyregester(at)gmail.com - for full pilgrim certification you need do only the last 100 km on foot starting at Sarria - links to the left have all the information you will need.

I thank many for their generosity to allow the escape from real life for one entire month - Joanie and family, plus our extended home family and Silver Plume folk; Ed Ruscha and studio boys; Helga Farley and Marvin Seligman; Sharon Gittins and Laura Lankester; Ivan Holmes - our maternal uncle who may join us yet; Susan Anderson, who hopefully is minding the store; Bas and Marianne Schweitzer; Dedee Sanderson; son, Christian Regester and The North Face; SphereOne, Inc - Cindy, Michael and Paul;

From Wikipedia link below: The Way of St James has existed for over a thousand years. It was one of the most important Christian pilgrimages during medieval times. It was considered one of three pilgrimages on which all sins could be forgiven; [citation needed]the others are the Via Francigena to Rome and the pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

Legend holds that St. James's remains were carried by boat from Jerusalem to northern Spain where they were buried on the site of what is now the city of Santiago de Compostela. There are some, however, who claim that the bodily remains at Santiago belong to Priscillian, the fourth-century Galician leader of an ascetic Christian sect, Priscillianism, who was one of the first Christian heretics to be executed.

There is not a single route; the Way can take one of any number of pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela. However a few of the routes are considered main ones. Santiago is such an important pilgrimage destination because it is considered the burial site of the apostle, James the Great. During the middle ages, the route was highly travelled. However, the Black Plague, the Protestant Reformation and political unrest in 16th- century Europe resulted in its decline. Until the 1980s, only a few pilgrims arrived in Santiago annually. However, since then, the route has attracted a growing number of modern-day pilgrims from around the globe. The route was declared the first European Cultural Route by the Council of Europe in October 1987; it was also named one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites in 1993. More at Wikipeadia