Northern Way
Native names
Spanish: Camino del Norte
Galician: Camiño do Norte
Basque: Iparraldeko bidea
The Way in Castro-Urdiales (Cantabria)
TypePilgrims' way
LocationFrom Irún to Santiago de Compostela
CriteriaCultural: (ii), (iv), (vi)
Designated1993 (17th session)
Part ofRoutes of Santiago de Compostela: Camino Francés and Routes of Northern Spain
Reference no.669bis-002

The Northern Way (Spanish: Camino del Norte, Galician: Camiño do Norte, Basque: Iparraldeko bidea), also called the Coastal Way (Spanish: Camino de la Costa, Galician: Camiño da Costa, Basque: Kostaldeko bidea), is one of the routes of the Camino de Santiago. It is an 817 kilometres (508 mi), five-week coastal route from Irún (Gipuzkoa), near the border with France, following the northern coastline of Spain into Galicia where it heads inland towards Santiago de Compostela joining the French Way at Arzúa (A Coruña). This route follows the old Roman road, the Via Agrippa –which was used in the Middle Ages by Christian pilgrims when Muslim domination had extended northwards and was making travel along the French Way dangerous – for some of its way.[1] The Northern Way coincides with the E9 European long distance path for most of its route.

Background

The route passes through San Sebastián, Guernica (Biscay), Bilbao, Santander and Gijón (Asturias). It is less populated, lesser known and generally more difficult hiking, because of its changes in elevation, than the French Way. Shelters are 20–35 kilometres (12–22 mi) apart, rather than there being hostels (Spanish: albergues) or monasteries every 4–10 kilometres (2.5–6.2 mi) as on the French Way. It has also cooler summer weather.

The Liébana Way links the Northern Way with the French Way passing by the Monastery of Santo Toribio de Liébana in Cantabria.[2]

See also

  • Camino a Santiago Vía Aquitania
  • Buiza

References

  1. ↑ ""Los Caminos del Norte", The confraternity of Saint James". Archived from the original on 2019-01-31. Retrieved 2022-10-29.
  2. ↑ "The Way of St. James in Cantabria: the Liébana Route". the Cantabrian film commission. Retrieved 2022-10-29.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.