"Whoever goes to St. James and not to the Saviour, visits the servant and misses the Master."
The city of Oviedo is the start of the Camino Primitivo. Today, in the cathedral of Oviedo, there are many sacred relics dating back 2000 years. The cathedral itself is dedicated to 'The Holy Saviour' and a famous Spanish saying to encourage pilgrims to pass through Oviedo is "Whoever goes to St. James and not to the Saviour, visits the servant and misses the Master."
This will be my third Camino walking to the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwest corner of Spain. To reference the map below:
- In 2016 Laurel and I walked west from Leon to Santiago along the Camino Francis shown by the green pins above
- In 2018 Laurel and I walked north from Porto, Portugal along the Camino Portugues show by the pink pins above
- In 2022 I will be walking solo west from Oviedo along the Camino Primitivo show by the yellow pins above
In 2019 (remember before Covid) 350,000 pilgrims from 190 countries received their Compostela certificate for completing the pilgrimage. the Camino Frances (60%), the Camino Portugues (24%), Camino Inglese (6%), and the Camino Primitivo (5%) are the most popular routes.
 |
| Route of the Primativo |
The Primativo path is through and over the Cantabrian Mountains about 50 miles inland from the north coast of Spain.
There is a lot of climbing. Over the roughly 240 miles there is an elevation gain of 32,306 ft. Luckly what goes up must come down, so the downhill distance is similar.
Although the majority walk for religious reasons, 24% of the arrivals in Santiago said they had no religious reason for walking the Camino. The Camino is an amazing journey, and whether or not a person identifies as religious they all find something special on the Way.
On arriving in Santiago pilgrims receive the Compostela. It is a certificate of completion of the Camino de Santiago, and is issued to you by the Pilgrim's Office in Santiago de Compostela. There are two types of certificate. One is in Latin issued to pilgrims who declare that they did the camino for religious or spiritual purposes. The second certificate is for those who did it for cultural or historical purposes and this is written in Spanish.
The Camino is not a race or distance contest. To receive the Compostela, you must have completed the last 100 kilometers of the camino on foot, or the last 200 kilometers by bicycle. The pilgrim's passport is used as proof. For me the passport is a better way to remember the Camino than the Compostela, but I cherish both.
 |
| Part of my 2016 Pilgrim Passport |
