El Camino de Santiago
- St James Way -
Photographic journey
By Umberto Torromacco Tradition has it that the apostle James the Elder,
brother of John the Evangelist, travelled to western Europe after Christ's
death in order to spread the Gospel in the Iberian peninsula, from the
North to Galicia; once his mission was accomplished, he went back to Jerusalem.
King Herod Agrippa condemned him to martyrdom in the year 44. A few Disciples
took James' mortal remains away to put them on a boat that went to sea
and guided by an angel, navigated till it reached the Iberian shores
of Iria Flavia, now known as Padrn. History and legend merge in time
but some texts, dating back as far as the 7th and 8th. century, prove
the existence of the sepulchre of Saint James in Spain. Sometime around
the year 813, Pelagius the hermit saw an illuminating star every night,
as if it were a signal, a field (campo). It became the field of the star,
campus stellae; the etymology of Compostela is therefore obvious. A premonitory
dream, or rather, the apparition of Saint James inviting him to find the
sepulchre, led the hermit to discover the tomb thanks to the help of Theodore,
the bishop of Iria Flavia. In a difficult period for relations with the
advancing Arabian culture, Christianity fostered the worship of Saint
James and more frequent pilgrimages to strengthen the bulwark of a religion
and followers against the spread of Islamic doctrines. During the first
half of the 12th.century, Aymerico Picaud, a French monk - maybe a Cluriac
monk - wrote the Liber Sancti Jacobi, also known as the Callistine Code
(Codex Calixtinus), the pilgrims guide, and authentic historical treasure,
now kept in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. Such a book became
a fundamental comfort to travellers for centuries; it traces the routes
that converged, coming from all of Europe, maps down the pilgrims way,
takes them through the sedimentation of history and legend, mysticism
and worship, and to the sepulchre of the Saint. It bears a shell for symbol;
or it could be the pilgrims primary symbol for this journey. It is a
Pecten pilgrimea shell, commonly called scallop, but also defined pilgrim
for its funded tradition of the pilgrims symbology and, especially because
it is a characteristic of the devotee travelling to Santiago de Compostela.
There are a number of different reasons for that. It is clear that in
antiquity the shell was a metaphor for birth and life, concept that may
be extended to the soul, to purification and to the life of the spirit.
In the frescoes of Pompei, as it can also be seen in Botticellis painting,
Venus comes to life in a shell. The shell, or rather its content, represents
the basic nourishment of the costal populations, therefore life. But Christian
tradition also considered the shell as the symbol of a tomb that closes.
The radius structure of the shell can be compared to the radius of the
star that indicated the field of the Saints grave. And, finally, one
must bare in mind that such shells could easily be found along the shores
around Santiago de Compostela; there where the world seemed to end, last
stretch of land before the endless ocean, that last stretch called Finisterre,
which obviously derives from finis terrae. That is where the pilgrims
would go at the end of their journey; tradition has it that they would
pick up a shell as a proof that they had achieved their goal. Then the
shell became the symbol of the pilgrim and a public declaration of faith;
it distinguishes the traveller and the feeling of the pilgrims way, it
becomes an emblem and a pass along the stages of the route and the rest
stops. The origins of Saint James Way can be traced back to the ninth
century; then the news spread, the finds of the apostles mortal remains
were officially recognised, and the pilgrimage became customary for the
European Catholics. They would reach Santiago de Compostela from different
parts of the continent: from the North, from the East, travelling by sea
along the French and Italian coasts, and then starting to walk along the
pilgrims way. The pilgrims that came from Northern Europe, Belgium, Germany
and from beyond the English Channel, would travel along the via turonselle,
the route that came from the city of Tours and crossed Paris, and which
still is rich with treasures from the passage of the Scandinavian devotees.
The via lemovicense passes through Flemish villages, the extreme north
of the continent and crosses Limoges. From Bourgogne and central German
regions, the pilgrims would continue along the via podense, named after
Notre Dame de Puy. And finally, the via tolosana, named after the city
of Toulouse, leads to the pass of Somport; and from there on, in Spain,
the way took its real name: Camino de Santiago (Sant Iago) Saint James
Way. It was the most suitable route for the Italian pilgrims, and the
city of Arles served as a meeting point. With time, an alternative route
emerged, also as a result of Charlemagnes legendary exploits. This lead
the pilgrims to cross the Pyrenees, through the pass of Roncisvalle, reviving
the gestures and myths of the paladins and Charlemagne. These main and
established routes were joined by other routes that became increasingly
important, both from a historic and social-economic standpoint. The Niederstrasse
that passed through Brussels, Amiens and Paris, forked in with the via
turonselle. In the south, the Oberstrasse ran from Einsieldens Sanctuary,
through Bern, Lausanne, Genve, Chambery and Valence, and met with the
via tolosana in Saint Gilles. The Italian pilgrims, and many others from
overseas, would reach our coasts, and take the two main routes. The via
delle Alpi, from Milan, Avignon, Novara, Vercelli, Turin, Susa, Monginevro
and Brianon. Or, the via costiera, which would also lead to Avignon,
travelling along the Ligurian coast, on the via Aurelia. In the south,
the Pilgrims would take these arterial roads and follow the plotted routes
of the via francigena, the route taken by devotees coming from the North
and from the West to Rome; they would cross Siena, Lucca, Fidenza, Piacenza,
Pavia, all the way to the Great San Bernard Pass. The eastern devotees,
coming from the Adriatic coast and from Countries beyond the Balkans,
would take the via postumia". The pilgrims would begin their long journey
following the example and the tradition of their predecessors, almost
repeating, through symbols, gestures and customs, an obligatory route
that would represent less space for freedom of faith, fascination and
cultural growth. The journey held the promise of encountering people of
other nationalities, languages, and customs; such contacts and relationships
were favoured by their common devotion, and would bring people closer
despite their ethnical and cultural differences. Traditions, tales, myths
and legends blended with the travelling experiences, and each and everyone
became its bearer, witness and propagator through the intensity of the
message. Solidarity and the shared experience of the Way fostered a sense
of community ; it broke down barriers and racial differences. Hostels,
hospices, monasteries, hospitals, churches and markets were built along
the routes of the pilgrimage; commercial activities proliferated, and
places of worship multiplied. A benevolent and sympathetic social fabric,
which later on became organised and structural, emerged along the various
stages of the Way, and added an increasingly developed and modern social
aspect to the religious one. The plotted route that used to be defined
as iter Sancti Jacobi and which then became Camino de Santiago would
develop along the European route into a site for trade, meetings, communication
and information: a prelude, centuries ahead of time, to dialog and cooperation
between people. But the spread of trade and crafts along Saint James
Way not only fulfilled an economic purpose; it also represented a constant
and increasing comfort and support for the pilgrims who over the centuries,
more than ten centuries, have walked along the plotted route, devoted
to a choice and hoping for an encounter. The mysticism of the way is obviously
made of personal motivation, but it is also increased, even nowadays,
by the awareness that millions of precursors, ideal travel companions,
have travelled along that route beset with difficulties and dangers, especially
if we think back in time, but which is at the same time full of natural
charm, interpretative freedom, absolute dreams, images and imagination,
oral and literary traditions of epic gestures, myths and legends. The
traditional iconography passes down the image of the pilgrim wearing a
huge mantle with an empty calabash gourd around his waist to serve as
a water flask, robust shoes, a large brim hat, both for the sun and rain,
and long stick, called bordn, to help him on the steepest stretches
of the Camino and to defend himself from snakes, dogs, wolves and neerdowells.
The shell, symbol of the pilgrim, is the emblem hostels and refuges would
use as a sign of hospitality and rest for the traveller. Nowadays, the
pilgrim recognises the traditional iconography even though it has undergone
some changes. He still travels long stretches of the Camino by foot, bicycle,
horse back riding, as prescribed by the liturgical rule for the concession
of indulgence, which has gone through various distinctions and levels
over the years, and which is plenary with special prerogatives for Saint
James Way, since Saint James is celebrated on Holy Years, each time the
25th. of July falls on a Sunday. Nowadays, a thousand years after the
first pilgrimage, devotees from all over the world still walk those routes;
they have the best equipment but they still are looking forward to contemplating
the Milky Way which was thought to end in Finisterre; they are able to
communicate through most sophisticated technologies but most of all determined
to find an answer in the most simple shared values of humanity: faith,
belief, the conviction of promptings of their soul. One after the other,
thousands of proofs, first legendary and then historical, demonstrate
the importance of Saint James Way. In conclusion, here are two or three
quotes that provide accurate accounts of what it means to travel to the
end of Saint James Way. Dante Alighieri, in Vita Nova, writes: there
are two meanings to the word pilgrim; a broad and a strict one. The broad
sense is used to indicate anyone who has left his own homeland; the strict
sense is used to indicate none other than those going to Saint Iagos
(James in Spanish) place, or those laughing. One should know that there
are three proper ways to call those who go to the service of the Almighty:
they are called palmers when going overseas, where they more than once
carried a palm; they are called peregrines when going to the house of
Galicia, even if Saint James grave were farther from his homeland than
from any other apostles; they are called romeos when they are going to
Rome. testifying and representing a relevant source of the historical
and religious roots of Saint James Way. And with the sudden leap from
the profane to the sacred, in 1982, Pope John Paul the 2nd. said before
thousands of followers gathered in Santiago de Compostela: From Santiago
de Compostela, I launch an appeal to you, old Europe, an appeal full of
love, to discover yourself, to be yourself. To go back to your origins
and to live once more those values that made your history glorious The
Popes words were filled with thousands of years of history that belongs
to the worship of Saint James, with devoted pilgrims, and with the history
of Europe which is encountered and founded around the routes of civilisation,
beyond the barriers of different cultures and of nations. Finally, to
conclude with the simplicity of the man in the street, because it is there
that you will find the pilgrim, history, religion, ethnical, political,
social and cultural diversities; there people meet, and personal gifts
become community, a simple and true witness, a sentence from the great
message enunciated with sincere spontaneity : Dios me di mas de lo que
como, God gave me more than what I eat. That is the genuine expression,
authentic in its synthesis and form, of a peasant offering us hospitality
and who insisted, before all our timid hesitation, on offering us a place
to rest in his house. When we asked why he was so forthcoming and so open
to others, he tackled a great theme with but a few words: the fortune
of having a lot, the moral need to share with others. One more teaching
from Saint James Way. Before achieving the goal, the sepulchre of the
Saint, the closest place to the intensity of worship and prayer, even
more than the sacredness of the places and of the historical and religious
heritage, the way is about encounters between men. It is rooted in geography,
time, in mans itinerary. As if repetition of gestures, travelling along
the same routes, had stopped the calender in order to sanction a dateless
reality.
Domenico Giuffr Traduzione
testi inglese:SUZANNE MARION
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