I Cammini di Santiago

Four Paths. A single destination: Santiago de Compostela. Where, in the golden choir of the grandiose cathedral, the relics of Saint James the Greater rest. For 12 centuries, pilgrims from all over Europe have been traveling to Galicia and today's Camino de Santiago was born from the traces of their steps, from the bridges and pavements of the ancient streets. The Camino Francés, the best known of the Compostela itineraries, connects the Pyrenees to Santiago, passing through the historic cities of Pamplona, Burgos and León and crossing the forests of Navarre, the hills of Rioja and the Castilian mesetas. From Mérida, in Andalusia, the route of the Via de la Plata starts which, following bridges, milestones and traces of an ancient Roman road, crosses Extremadura and touches Salamanca and Zamora and then joins the Camino Francés in the shadow of the cathedral of Astorga. The Camino Portugués develops along the Atlantic coast, followed for centuries by those who, starting from the extreme south-west of the Iberian Peninsula, went on a pilgrimage to Santiago. Encountering on the way the ancient and modern architecture and cathedrals of Porto, Ponte da Lima, Valença do Minho and, once in Spain, Pontevedra. The long Camino del Norte route instead follows, starting from the border with France, a long route that runs along the Bay of Biscay through the Basque Country and Cantabria, Asturias and Galicia until reaching the Praza do Obradoiro. Meeting San Sebastián, Bilbao and Santandér along the way and passing a few dozen kilometers away from Oviedo. Four ancient streets but reborn and equipped for modern pilgrims, who every year, in ever-increasing numbers, are discovering the wonder, the silence, the emotion, the effort and the charm of long journeys on foot.