Camino Francés
784 kilometres from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Santiago de Compostela
The Camino Francés (the French Way, known to many as simply El Camino de Santiago) is the classic medieval route across northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela. Medieval pilgrimage roads from across France fed into this route, which was described in the 12th-century Codex Calixtinus, effectively an early guide to the Camino.
From Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, the Camino crosses the Pyrenees and continues through Navarra, La Rioja, Castilla y León and Galicia. The route includes the vineyards of La Rioja, the open plateau of the Meseta and the mountain crossings of the Montes de León and O Cebreiro, as well as many towns, bridges, monasteries and former hospitals that developed around medieval pilgrimage traffic.
Places of interest along the Camino Francés
Pamplona/Iruña
Pamplona/Iruña was the capital of the Kingdom of Pamplona and later the Kingdom of Navarre, and remains the capital of Navarre today. The Basque name Iruña means "the city", while the name Pamplona derives from the Roman Pompaelo, named after the Roman general Pompeius, who established a Roman city here in 75 BC. In the Middle Ages, Pamplona consisted of three separately walled and frequently hostile boroughs: La Navarrería, San Cernin and San Nicolás. Charles III united them in 1423 through the Privilegio de la Unión, creating a single city.
Burgos
Burgos was founded in 884 by Count Diego Rodríguez Porcelos as a fortified settlement on the frontier of the expanding Christian kingdoms. It grew into one of the principal cities of medieval Castile, earning the title Cabeza de Castilla ("Head of Castile"). Its position on the Camino helped drive this growth, while the wool trade later brought further prosperity. Medieval Burgos had numerous hospitals and religious institutions serving pilgrims.
Burgos is also closely associated with Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, better known as El Cid, an 11th-century Castilian knight and military leader whose exploits made him one of Spain's most famous medieval heroes. According to tradition, he was born in nearby Vivar; he and his wife Jimena are buried in the cathedral.
León
León grew from the permanent camp established here by the Roman Legio VII Gemina in the 1st century, from which the city's name derives. In 910 it became the capital of the Kingdom of León, one of the principal Christian kingdoms of medieval Iberia. In 1188, King Alfonso IX summoned representatives of towns alongside the nobility and clergy; the resulting Decreta are recognised by UNESCO as the oldest known documentary evidence of a European parliamentary system. León was also one of the major stops on the medieval Camino, described in the Codex Calixtinus as a royal and courtly city.
Astorga
Astorga began as a Roman military settlement around 19 BC and developed into Asturica Augusta, an administrative centre closely connected with the gold mines of north-western Iberia. Sections of its late Roman walls still surround the old town, while other remains survive beneath the modern city.
From the 17th century, cacao carried by the region's arrieros, or muleteers, helped establish a chocolate industry for which Astorga is still known.
Ponferrada
Ponferrada grew around an 11th-century bridge over the Río Sil, ordered by Bishop Osmundo of Astorga to make the river crossing easier for pilgrims. Fitted with iron chains, it became known as Pons Ferrata ("iron bridge"), from which the city takes its name.
Coal and iron mining transformed Ponferrada in the 20th century into the industrial and administrative centre of El Bierzo.
Sarria
Sarria lies about 115 km from Santiago de Compostela, just beyond the 100 km minimum distance required on foot to qualify for the Compostela. As a result, it has become the most common starting point on all the Camino routes to Santiago. King Alfonso IX of León founded Vilanova de Sarria as a royal town in the late 12th century. In 1230, he died here while making a pilgrimage to Santiago after the reconquest of Mérida.
Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela developed around a tomb identified in the early 9th century by Bishop Teodomiro as that of the Apostle James, although the attribution rests on religious tradition rather than historical proof. King Alfonso II of Asturias travelled to the site and ordered a church to be built over the tomb, helping establish the pilgrimage that would shape the city for centuries. Construction of the present Romanesque cathedral began in 1075. A medieval city grew around it to serve pilgrims arriving from across Europe.