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The Route to Santiago in History
At a time when Europe needed to be united, the Route to Santiago was the first element that made it possible. The find of the sepulchre of the first Apostle Martyr became an unquestionable symbol, compatible with the diverse conceptions of the christian peoples.

Conscious of the importance of having the relics of Santiago el Mayor, the Spanish Monarchies contributed significantly to the success of the holy route. In those times the Peninsula had a growing need for money and soldiers to fight against the Moorish.

The kings of Aragon, Navarre and Castile made a great effort to attract to their possessions powerful rich people, and to that end, employed all possible means: interchange of presents, arranged marriages and the announcements of the favours dispensed by the Apostle.
 

An Extraordinary Find
The history of the Route to Santiago dates back to the beginning of the 9C, when the sepulchre of Santiago el Mayor (James the Greater), evangelist in Spain, was discovered. The facts concerning this find have been embellished by people´s imagination, without distorting reality, so that they become more poetic. One of these legends is the one that locates the extraordinary event in the former diocese of Iria Flavia, when the hermit Pelayo had a "divine revelation" in the deep of the forest. He sees "altar lights" and hears "angels singing".
 
The Routes to Santiago de Compostela
Most pilgrims who arrived at Santiago followed the "French route", but there are other six historic routes. The French route is the most travelled by and promoted. It enters Spain through Roncesvalles and Sompot, in the Pyrenees and crosses the autonomous communities of Aragón, Navarra, La Rioja, Castilla, León and Galicia. The second more widely known itinerary is the "Northern Route". From Irún, it crosses Euskadi, Cantabria and Asturias before entering Galicia through Ribadeo, on the coast, and through A Fonsagrada, in the interior. Until the 10 C it was the most travelled by.
 
James the Greater
The Apostle James (Santiago) the Greater, as he was called by christian tradition, was one of the sons of Zebedeo and Salome; his brother was John the evangelist, also Apostle. He was invited by Jesus "beside his brother and immediately after Peter and Andrew- to become fisherman of men". He was one of the apostles that had a close and intimate relationship with the son of God.
 
The Pilgrims
Along the routes to Santiago have walked people of all stamps and conditions: honest pilgrims, convicts, minstrels, beggars, adventurers,tramps, fugitives from justice, bandids...

The religious people made the pilgrimage urged by their unrestrained need to visit the tomb of the Apostle and to begin a personal relationship with him.
 
The Romanesque Art along the Route to Santiago
The development of the Romanesque art, the first international style in the Middle Ages, took place after the consolidation of the Route, in the 11 and 12 C. The cultural interchanges derived from the pilgrimage caused the extension of this artistic movement, with its local variants, all over Europe. The Route to Santiago brought about many changes in the Medieval society that also contributed to the extension of the Romanesque: the strengthening of European kingdoms, the increase of the population, and the extension of trade
 
History of the Route to Santiago in Navarre
Navarre has been a fundamental region over the history of the Route to Santiago, one of the most important religious-cultural phenomena in the Middle ages. In Navarre several itineraries joined together, and starts the French Route by Roncesvalles. Other itineraries include the Somport, Barranca, Baztán, from Monleón to Roncal and Lumbier, the Ribera, Val de Aibar and the Valdorba routes. On Navarrese lands converged the French and the Aragonese Routes (along with the fourth french route, that crossed Somport).
 
The Castles along the Route
Castles are the most characteristic symbols of the Middle Ages in Spain. Between the years 722 and 1422 the Iberian landscape was filled with these magnificent stone constructions that stood majestically on strategic sites. Its number increased spectacularly thanks to the economic expansion and the reconquest of territories that had been under the control of the Arabs for centuries. This favourable socio-economic situation was partly due to the Route.