What are the origins of the Camino de Santiago?

Question: What are the origins of the Camino de Santiago?

Answer: It was western man's first destination; some might call it the first tourist attraction. Charlemagne, Louis VII, El Cid, St. Francis of Assisi and between 500,000 and two million other pilgrims came to this town in the lush, verdant province of Galicia in northwest Spain, just 20 miles from the Atlantic ocean, near what the Romans called Fisterra - the end of the earth. Those who completed the journey were well rewarded - their time in Purgatory was cut in half.

St. James (Santiago in Spanish) was the Apostle who carried Christ's doctrine to Spain. After his execution in Jerusalem 44 AD, legend has it that his followers took his body to Spain.

In the year 813, a hermit named Pelayo rediscovered the tomb and the town has been the journey's end for pilgrims ever since. Known as "the Jerusalem of the West," Santiago de Compostela, now stands as a living, exquisite, monument - with many worldly delights as well.

In the meantime, before Christianity had taken hold of Europe, this area had already become sacred to many religions - the Celts are said to have worshiped at the Altar Soli at Fisterra and many pilgrims made the trek to the most Westerly point of the former Roman empire long before the Christians started to follow the same route. Today, most people stop at Santiago de Compostela - the destination of the Christian pilgrimage - but some still continue to Fisterra.

There are many routes to Santiago. Their journeys used to take weeks, months, even years, and thousands still walk or come by horseback - at least part of the way. Read more about Camino de Santiago routes.