st. james' walk, the last step

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modern pilgrimages, st. James' walk

st. James' walk
Pilgrimage is common to various religious cultures. In Christianity, through the cult of saints and their relics the walk, as an act of penance, was offered to the pilgrims as a chance to gain spiritual health. The st. James' walk, together with the pilgrimages to Rome and Jerusalem, was a well known route for believers in the Christian faith in the middle ages. Over the centuries its appeal never died completely even if its driving force might have changed. Every year, driven by both religious and cultural beliefs, thousands of pilgrims walk different routes through Spain from all over Europe to the shrine of St. James, in Santiago de Compostela. The last 100 km is where all these routes cross, and where tourists and the curious increase in number; especially in the summer months when St. James' festival takes place. After weeks of solitary pilgrimage, because of this multitude of tourists, visitors and pilgrims the return into society is sometimes challenging.

pierfrancesco celada

fotografante