Small and weathered, with tiles missing from the roof and patches of stone visible in the thick, unadorned walls, it didn’t look like anyone had visited, let alone worshiped here, for centuries. Yet of course it was unlocked.
Tag Archives: history
Conques, Theme Park of the Middle Ages
One of the most famous stops of the Chemin du Puy, the Way of Saint James from Le Puy to Saint Jean Pied de Port, is in Conques. For many pilgrims, this is a high point of the trip. Our experience was not quite the same. Here’s an excerpt from the book-in-progress
Saint Roch: The Burlesque Saint of Bad Knees and (Maybe) Pilgrims
If you venture into the churches and cathedrals of the Camino, you’ll notice a lot of saints. One is dressed as a pilgrim, with a cloak and a floppy hat and often even the scallop shell of Saint James. But he’s not Saint James. You can tell because this particular saint is always standing a certain way.
The Wine, the Devil, and the Bridge: Camino Surprises
The Devil, the wine, and the bridge: a Camino story about legends and surprises in France.
The Origins of the Camino
To understand the modern experience of what we now call the Camino de Santiago, it helps to start at the beginning and see where it came from and why it matters. After all, this was never meant to be a recreational hiking trail. I’m not much of an ancient historian, but here’s my understanding ofContinue reading “The Origins of the Camino”
camino times two 