What follows is my attempt to chronicle and recreate a few of experiences in Spain and France this summer for those interested. Focus primarily will rest on history and religion, and in particular the history that lives in the churches and castles that line the pilgrim roads to Santiago Compostella in Spain.

The Muslim conquest of the Holy Land in the Seventh and Eighth centuries caused the traditional pilgrimage to Jerusalem to become increasingly dangerous. As the Middle Ages unfolded, the journey across the Pyrenees and into Spain to the traditional burial place of St. James became the dominant pilgrimage route. The results were dramatic. The first great wave of Christian churches in the Middle Ages sprung up along the pilgrim roads - the age of Romanesque was born. Architecture, spirituality, culture and politics would all be dramatically affected by the great mass of Medieval Christians on the road to Compostella.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

The Beginning of the Pilgrim Road: Vezelay

The are four pilgrim roads in France that all converge at the Pyrenees into one road that cuts across Northern Spain. The main French road begins in the Basilica of Vezelay, which is about two hours south of Paris.



This is the very beginning of the road that winds all the way to the Atlantic coast of Spain and helped shape the Middle Ages


My wife is a post card maniac. Here she is at the post office.
Isabel taking her first steps outside of the church
The tympanum above the door is typical. It depicts the Last Judgement. The door faces toward the setting sun providing a reminding of the end of days. Christ sits judging and below him on the right and left are the damned and saved.



Isabel with the Little flower
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