El Camino de Santiago

Isabelle (Year 10), has made a quick quiz about the Way of St James with the information that she learnt from Senor Chamorro’s fascinating Linguistica Masterclass.  

The Way of St James is the pilgrimage route to Galacia in north-western Spain. Hundreds of thousands of people take pilgrimages along these routes each year. Santiago de Compostela is a UNESCO heritage site since 1985 so it might be worth visiting! Try to answer some of these questions about the Way of St James (answers can be found at the end)! 

1. How many Camino Routes are there? (some are shown in the image above) 

1. 1 

2. 6 

3. 9 

4. 13 

2. How long would it take to travel the Way of St James (French route) by foot? 

1. 5 days 

2. 10 days 

3. 15 days 

4. 20 days  

3. How long is the Way of St James (French route)? 

1. 50 miles 

2. 500 miles 

3. 5000 miles 

4. 50 000 miles 

4. What is the symbol of the Way of St James? 

1. A scallop shell. 

2. A fish symbol. 

3. A twig 

4. A star 

5. What must you do to receive your Compostela certificate? 

1. Reach Santiago (regardless of how you get there) 

2. Walk/horseride at least 100km or cycle at least 200km. 

3. Stamp your pilgrim passport daily. 

4. All of the above 

6. True or false: Walkers take priority over cyclists. 

1. True 

2. False 

7. What colour are the arrows that lead the travellers? 

1. Red 

2. Blue 

3. Yellow 

4. Green  

8. Which route is the oldest? 

1. Northern way 

2. The french way 

3. Le Puy Route 

4. Camino primitivo  

9. What is “Ultreia”? 

1. It is the greeting between pilgrims. 

2. It says it on the signs to guide pilgrims. 

3. It is the race which was held in 2017 

4. It is the name of one of the routes.  

10. Why do the routes lead to Santiago de Compostela? 

1. It is a UNESCO heritage site. 

2. The remains of St James were found there. 

3. Its geographical position. 

4. Romans developed this city quickly, so it had the infrastructure needed. 

Answers!  

The Way of St James is not just one route. Even though the French route is the most popular, there are actually a total of 13 routes! You can travel the Way of St James by foot, cycling or on a horse! If you wanted to travel by foot, it would take you around 10 days because it is around 500 miles long.  

The symbol for the Way of St James is a scallop shell. This is because: 

• The lines represent the different routes pilgrims travel from all over the world which all lead to the tomb of Saint James in Santiago de Compostela 
• The shell is worn on your bag to show to others that you are walking the Way of St James 
• Pilgrims are also used as a bowl (for food and drink) by the pilgrims during the day! 

To receive your Compostela certificate, you have to reach Santiago. However, you can use any route as long as you have either walked at least 100km or cycled at least 200km and you must have a stamp in your pilgrim passport. So the answer was all of the above!  

That statement was actually true! Walkers actually do take priority over cyclists in public hostels (also called albergues) called Municipals (which is when you will need your Camino passport to receive entry). You can’t book them beforehand so it is normally first come first served with walkers having priority.  

The yellow arrows to lead the travellers were originally painted at the end of the 20^th century (1984)!  

The camino primitivo is the oldest route, also called the “original”. It is the most challenging of all of the Camino trails and is around 321km and takes around two weeks. The reason for the challenge is the mountains that you have to climb!  

Ultreia comes from Latin: ultra = beyond, eia = keep going. It is the traditional greeting pilgrims say to each other to show support while on the Camino. You should reply with “Et suseia!”. There was, in fact, a race held in 2017 which was the first Pilgrim’s relay race to Santiago de Compostela. 

The destination is Santiago de Compostela because the remains of St James were discovered there in the 9^th century.