The Pilgrim Route to Santiago

When St James the Great was beheaded in Jerusalem in AD 61, he became the first apostle to be martyred for his faith. According to legend, his disciples brought the body in a miraculous stone boat to north-western Spain, where they buried it in a place now known as Santiago de Compostela. Following a claim in the early ninth century that the tomb had been rediscovered, people began flocking to the site to venerate the relics. Santiago became, after Rome and Jerusalem, the most important place of pilgrimage in medieval Christendom. Pilgrims from all over Europe broke away from their daily routine and set off along the ‘Way of St James’ through France and Spain to the remote town of Santiago. They travelled from hostel to hostel, visiting the churches and other holy places which lay on the route. Over the centuries a ‘cultural highway’ evolved, which has left an indelible mark on the artistic, religious and social map of Europe. In 1984, Brian Tate, Emeritus Professor of Spanish at the University of Nottingham, retraced the ancient journey of the pilgrims, accompanied by his son Marcus and the photographer Pablo Keller. The result is a remarkable visual record of some of the most beautiful landscapes in southern Europe and architectural treasures dating from the Romanesque to the present day. To complement Pablo Keller’s photographs, Brian and Marcus Tate have written a book that explains the pilgrimage phenomenon and the history of the shrine, as well as providing a companion to the journey itself. Five maps show the route in detail. Modern travellers, whether from the comfort of an armchair or in the footsteps of the original pilgrims, can re-create for themselves this great spiritual adventure of the medieval world.