page_title: Camino de Santiago
section_title: Routes
hierarchical_section_title: Camino de Santiago / Modern-day pilgrimage / Routes
caption_attribution_description: Português: Caminho da Costa Aguçadoura, Póvoa de Varzim.
context_page_description: The Camino de Santiago, known in English as the Way of St. James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition has it that the remains of the saint are buried. Many follow its routes as a form of spiritual path or retreat for their spiritual growth. It is also popular with hiking and cycling enthusiasts and organized tour groups, and can be seen within the context of Christian colonization and Christianization.
  The French Way and the Routes of Northern Spain are the courses listed in the World Heritage List by UNESCO.
context_section_description: Here only a few routes are named. For a complete list of all the routes (traditional and less so), see: Camino de Santiago (route descriptions).
  The Camino Francés, or French Way, is the most popular. The Via Regia is the last portion of the (Camino Francés). Historically, because of the Codex Calixtinus, most pilgrims came from France: typically from Arles, Le Puy, Paris, and Vézelay; some from Saint Gilles. Cluny, site of the celebrated medieval abbey, was another important rallying point for pilgrims and, in 2002, it was integrated into the official European pilgrimage route linking Vézelay and Le Puy.
  Most Spanish consider the French border in the Pyrenees the natural starting point. By far the most common starting point on the Camino Francés is Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, on the French side of the Pyrenees, with Roncesvalles on the Spanish side also being popular. The distance from Roncesvalles to Santiago de Compostela through León is about 800 km (500 mi).
  The Camino Primitivo, or Original Way, is the oldest route to Santiago de Compostela, first taken in the 9th century and which begins in Oviedo.
  The Camino Portugués, or the Portuguese Way, is the second-most-popular route, starting at the cathedral in Lisbon (for a total of about 610 km) or at the cathedral in Porto in the north of Portugal (for a total of about 227 km), and crossing into Galicia at Valença.
  The Camino del Norte, or the Northern Way, is also less traveled and starts in the Basque city of Irun on the border with France, or sometimes in San Sebastián. It is a less popular route because of its changes in elevation, whereas the Camino Frances is mostly flat. The route follows the coast along the Bay of Biscay until it nears Santiago. Though it does not pass through as many historic points of interest as the Camino Frances, it has cooler summer weather. The route is believed to have been first used by pilgrims to avoid traveling through the territories occupied by the Muslims in the Middle Ages.
  The Central European camino was revived after the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Medieval routes, Camino Baltico and the Via Regia in Poland pass through present-day Poland reach as far north as the Baltic states, taking in Vilnius, and Eastwards to present-day Ukraine and take in Lviv, Sandomierz and Kraków.
caption: A marking in a boardwalk of the Portuguese coastal way: Coastal sands dunes of Póvoa de Varzim.
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