Beauty and Christ
The Camino de Santiago
The Camino de Santiago, the Way of St James, is a network of ancient pilgrim routes across Europe and Spain leading to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, which holds the shrine traditionally believed to be the tomb of the apostle James. Pilgrims have walked it since the ninth century, and today hundreds of thousands still make the journey each year, believers and seekers alike.
The true story
According to long tradition, the tomb of the apostle James the Great was discovered in the ninth century in Galicia, in north-western Spain, and a church was built over it that grew into the great Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. Through the Middle Ages the roads to it became one of Christendom’s three great pilgrimages, alongside Jerusalem and Rome. The most travelled route, the Camino Frances, runs from the French Pyrenees across northern Spain. Pilgrims carry a scallop shell, the ancient sign of the Camino.
Today the Camino draws people from every nation and every belief, walking for weeks toward the same cathedral. Many set out unsure why. A great number arrive changed.
What it points to
There is a reason so many still walk. A long road strips life down: you carry only what you need, you move slowly, you have time to think and to pray. The Camino is a living parable of what the whole Christian life is: a journey, step after ordinary step, toward God. Jesus called his very first followers with a single word, follow me, and James, whose shrine the road leads to, was one of the first to get up and go.
The road ends at a shrine. The journey it pictures ends in a Person. If you ever walk it, listen for the One the whole way was made to lead you toward.
Come and see
Beauty is a door, never a trick. The cathedrals, the hymns, and the long roads of pilgrimage were all made by people who had first found something, or Someone, worth the labour of a lifetime. If the beauty draws you, follow it to its source. The living Christ it points toward is not an argument to win but a Person to meet, and he still draws near to everyone who comes to him with an open heart. The Gospel of John is a gentle place to begin.
Meet JesusRead the Gospel of JohnThe Church around the worldJesus Christ is Lord.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the Camino de Santiago?
- The Camino de Santiago, or Way of St James, is a network of ancient pilgrim routes across Europe and Spain that lead to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, which holds the shrine traditionally believed to be the tomb of the apostle James.
- Why do people walk the Camino de Santiago?
- People walk it as a Christian pilgrimage and, for many today, as a search for meaning, rest, or God. The long slow journey strips life down to essentials and gives time to think and pray. Many set out unsure why and arrive changed.
- Who was St James of the Camino?
- James the Great was one of Jesus' twelve apostles, a fisherman among the first Jesus called (Matthew 4:21-22). Tradition holds that his remains were laid to rest at Santiago de Compostela, which became the destination of the pilgrimage.