Via de la Plata - Walking the Way of St James

A walker's guidebook to the Way of St James’ southern pilgrim route through Spain to Santiago de Compostela. Nearly 1000km long, the Via de la Plata starts in Seville or Granada and leads north and then north-west through the historic towns and varied scenery of Extremadura, Castille and Galicia.

General

Fernando Alonso Romero, Historia, Leyendas y Creencias de Finisterre, A Coruña: Briga Edcions, 2002.

Donald Atwood and C.R. John, Penguin Dictionary of Saints, third ed., Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1995.

Nancy Louise Frey, Pilgrim Stories, Berkley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1998.

This refers specifically to the experiences of modern pilgrims along the road to Santiago de Compostela, before, during and after making their pilgrimage, but the questions raised confront any modern pilgrim on a route where the journey itself, rather than the destination, is the real issue at stake.

Martin Robinson, Sacred Places, Pilgrim Paths: an anthology of pilgrimage, London: Fount, 1997.

An anthology reflecting the experiences of pilgrims through the ages, dealing with places of pilgrimage, preparation for the journey, the journey itself, the inner journey, worship on the way and on arrival and the questions raised once the pilgrimage is over.

David Stancliffe, The Pilgrim Prayer Book, London: Continuum books, 2003.

Collection of prayers drawing on many christian traditions.

The Way of a Pilgrim, trans. R.M. French, London: Triangle, 1995.

First published in English in 1930 this book was written by an unknown Russian pilgrim in the nineteenth century, telling the story of his wanderings from one holy place to another in Russia and Siberia in search of the way of prayer.

Camino Mozárabe/Vía de la Plata

Actas. Congreso sobre o Camiño Xacobeo na Provincia de Ourense, Xunta de Galicia (Consellería de Cultura, Dirección Xeral de Promoción do Camiño de Santiago), 1995.

Collection of papers (in Spanish) given at a conference in 1993 on the history, geography and tradition of the Camino de Santiago in the province of Ourense.

Joaquein Miguel Alonso and Juan Luis Rodríguez, La Vía de la Plata, León: Editorial Everest, 2004.

Walkers/cyclists guide book to the original calzada romana from Mérida to Astorga (not the waymarked pilgrim route), containing extensive bibliography on Roman roads (in Spanish).

María Cuenda and Darío Izquierdo, La Virgen María en las Rutas Jacobeas. Ruta meridional – Vía de la Plata. 1999

One of a set of three volumes (the other two deal with the Camino Francés and the Camino Portugués) that examines representations in art and architecture of the Virgen Mary along the Vía de la Plata, many of them linked with the theme and portrayals of St James. Contains excellent photographs.

Hermenegilde de la Campa Martínez, De Granada a Santiago. Una ruta andaluza, Granada: Grupo Editorial Universitario, 1999.

An account of the experiences of the pilgrimage on foot made by members of the Granada Association during the summers of 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997. (Note, however, that they made this before the route was changed between Villaharta and Monterrubio de la Serena.)

José Eligio Rivas, Camino meridional de Santiago, continuación de la Vía de la Plata, Xunta de Galicia.

History of the places the route goes through in the Galician section.

Salvador Llopis, Por Salamanca también pasa el Camino de Santiago, Salamanca, 1965, reprinted 1998: Fuenterroble de Salvatierra (Salamanca), Asociación de Amigos del Camino de Santiago ‘Vía de la Plata’.

As its title indicates, this book describes the route in the province of Salamanca, including variants. Originally published in 1965 but reprinted in 1998 by the ‘Amigos’ in Fuenterroble de Salvatierra.

La Ruta de la Plata a pie y en bicicleta: monumentos, gastronomía, refugios, etapas, Madrid: El País Aguilar, 2000.

Practical guide to the route but only from Mérida to Astorga. Contains very good maps and information on the Roman aspects of the route (roads, bridges, history) but very little on the Vía de la Plata as a pilgrimage route.

La Ruta de la Plata, Camino Mozárabe de Santiago, Bilbao: Sua Edizoak, 1996.

A guide to the route for motorists but with background information and photographs of interest to all types of pilgrim.

La Ruta de la Plata de Sevilla a Gijón, León: Ediciones Lancia, 1993.

Guide to the history of the route and its monuments, with good photographs.

La Ruta de la Plata: Guía práctica del viajero, Madrid: Editorial Everest, 1994.

Another guide to the route for motorists but with background material and photographs of interest to all types of pilgrim.

José Sendín Blázquez, Calzada y Camino de Santiago – Vía de la Plata – Historia, Mito, Leyenda, Zamora: Fundación Ramos de Castro, 1992.

As its title suggests, this is a collection of writings pertaining to the local history, myths and legends surrounding the southern route to Santiago.

José Sendín Blázquez, Mitos y leyendas del Camino de Santiago del Sur, Plasencia: Ediciones Lancia, 1996.

A further collection of history, myths and legends about people and places along the Vía de la Plata.