Text and Photos
By Shari Benyousky
Guest Columnist

Editor’s Note: This is part three of Shari Benyousky’s adventure in Europe.

On this silvery Monday morning in July, the Santiago Compostela Pilgrim Office in the Cathedrale noted that by 10:30 a.m. 198 pilgrims had arrived. From ancient times, pilgrims have completed their pilgrimages in various ways.

Today they still walk or ride horses, but they also arrive on bikes. Pilgrims choose from seven main routes across Europe, the most popular of which is the Camino Frances which begins in France and crosses the Pyrenees Mountains.

During my four days in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, I returned multiple times to the worn flagstones of Obradoiro Square where the Caminos end in front of the Cathedral. Many millions have arrived here before.

The last bit of the trail winds up past ancient walls covered in moss. Bikers, walkers, groups of school kids, deeply tanned people with holes in their shoes, and those leaning on their traditional staffs, all drag themselves up that last hill to realize their dreams, the same dreams as pilgrims for 11 centuries.

As they enter the plaza, exultation blooms on their faces. They stop and lean their heads back to look up at the tall towers of the cathedral. Some throw down their packs and lay there staring up. Some dance and hug each other. Others take selfies.

A friend of mine told me that she did the trip once and now, whenever she has doubts about anything, she remembers that once she walked 500 miles, so she can do anything.

I’m guessing the ancient pilgrims didn’t pull out their cellphones at the completion to check in online and receive a QR code, but they could receive the Compostela Credencial or official record of their completion of the pilgrimage just the same.

TIP – If walking 500 miles is too daunting, consider the shorter option and begin your Camino in the town of Sarria, Spain, which conveniently sits exactly 115 km (71.5 miles) from the end. It is therefore just long enough for pilgrims to earn their official Compostela Credencials, and it takes about a week instead of the month it takes for the full 500 miles.

Why Do They Walk So Long to Come Here?

Legend says that the Apostle James, one of the closest of Jesus’ 12 disciples, preached the Gospel in the region and is buried at the Cathedrale of Santiago de Compostela (Santiago means James, and Compostela means field of stars).

Wait. Wasn’t the Apostle James in Jerusalem? Even though St. James was killed by the sword in Jerusalem in 44 AD by Herod Agrippa I, his remains can be found in a silver urn underneath the gold-covered high altar of the Cathedrale. Or at least this fact was asserted in the Bull of Pope Leo XIII, Omnipotens Deus, of 1 November 1884.

What Do Scallop Shells Have To Do With It?

For hundreds of years, Camino pilgrims have decorated themselves with scallop shells. Scallops also decorate all the guide markers along the route. A little digging finds many possible delightful reasons for this.

Apparently, the body of St. James was transported back to the city on a boat without a rudder or a sail. Some say this rudderless boat was a giant scallop shell. Some say a miracle occurred with the salvation of a drowned groom who rose from the waves covered in scallop shells. Others say the lines on the scallop shell represent the many paths of the Camino.

Originally, pilgrims carried the shells to scoop water or hold food along their journey. Eventually, Pilgrims wore the shell as a kind of protective amulet, identifying themselves with the hope that no one would rob a pilgrim.

Nowadays you’ll find the scallop design not only on the shiny metal shells marking the path, but on paintings, cornices and jewelry. The shells symbolize the Camino, but also rebirth, resurrection, and baptism.

As you’ve probably surmised, the pilgrimage is often undertaken by Catholics for spiritual reasons, and indeed, to receive the official Credencial, a pilgrim needs to indicate that they completed the journey “with a Christian sense.”

But others, many others, undertake the journey too. Approximately 350,000 pilgrim trekkers complete the journey each year. I’d bet most of them purchase at least one scallop. I purchased several.

The Pilgrim Museum

The five lovely squares surrounding the Cathedral contain all the services you might expect for weary pilgrims and curious tourists. You’ll find live musicians, souvenir sellers, patios shaded with flowering vines offering chilled wine, and mendicants (those who live by collecting alms) holding hands out for a few Euros.

You’ll also find the entrance to the Pilgrim Museum, a lovely and thoughtful museum that will take you through the history of the Camino in an hour or two.

The museum was created in 1951 to collect and document the history and pilgrimage stories. You can examine collected staffs, a velvet and ironwork trunk, the old-fashioned pilgrim gear of wide-brimmed hats and caps, and even a modern backpack covered in patches and pins from the trip.

You’ll see both ancient examples of diaries and modern ones with photos. The coolest thing is a display of ancient instruments played by minstrels on the trail that you can listen to with the click of a button.

Local Flavors

Once they’re finished exulting, checking in, and purchasing souvenirs, pilgrims often eat a lot. In Santiago de Compostela that means a meal of fresh seafood and a slice of Spanish tortilla (a kind of frittata or potato omelet), served with a refreshing local white wine, and ended with espresso and Tarta de Santiago (a Spanish almond cake). Even if you only walk a small portion of the trail, you can enjoy these local favorites just as much.

By the end of the day on Monday, I checked the Compostela Pilgrim Office count at 10 p.m. 12 hours later. It noted that 1,816 pilgrims completed the Camino and received their Credencials on July 8, 2024. Walking one of the trails is now on my bucket list.

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