The Via de la Plata

Not far from the centre of Seville in Spain is a granite way-marker. It reads Santiago de Compostella 1000 kilometres. For anybody planning to walk all of those 1000km, it is a slightly daunting sight. But for others the sight of this marking brings a rush of blood through their veins.

Although the Via de la Plata (the Silver route) follows an old Roman road towards the metal mines in northern Spain, its name has nothing to do with silver. The name is most likely derived from the Latin word “platea” meaning wide road or “Lapidata” meaning stone road. Another possible origin is the Arabic word Balatta meaning road.

The route was used well before the Romans as well, in prehistory this route was used by farmers to move domesticated animals in the summer from the south to north and vice-versa. Later the route was well known for traders who came to the southern ports of the Iberian Peninsula and traded ceramics and jewelry for raw materials from the north.

The Via de la Plata was used by different migratory groups to invade and in the 8th century it allowed the Moors to advance into northern Spain and fill up the power vacuum left in the peninsula by the Romans. Later, this same route was used by Spanish for the Reconquista.

The route was used for pilgrimage during Moorish control as well from the 10th to the 12th centuries. Even the bells from the Santiago cathedral that were relocated to the mosque in Cordoba by Al-Mansur were transferred back to Santiago in the 13th century. But in later centuries fewer pilgrims have used this route until its revival in the 1980s.

Today, about 3.5% of the pilgrims walk the Via de la Plata while the Camino Frances remains the most popular route.

The problem I had was that I had not planned in walking this Pilgrimage. I was actually on my way to a main road where I was going  to hitch to Portugal spend a week or so there and head back to the U.K for some well deserved abuse from my work mates who I am sure would enjoy working me back into the ground giving me stick, giving me all the worst jobs in the world ! o

However this will have to wait. So keep slugging it out lads I know you miss me much x.

October the 6th 2017 came where I was minding my own business walking across a bridge in Seville, where I met this guy who was walking the 1000 km to Santiago de compostela. There in that moment in time my path of life changed, I found the Santiago de Compostela office, Registered my name picked up my “Credencial del Peregrino” that you need to get stamped along the way, you need to show this at the pilgrim's office in Santiago to receive your certificate. 

I set of in that moment to Santiago and so this is day 4, it's a diffrent life for sure.