What the heck is the Camino de Santiago de Compostela?

The Camino de Santiago de Compostela, heretofor referred to as the Camino, is a pilgrimage to Saint James. It began in the 9th century when Pelayo, a 9th-century religious hermit living in a remote area of northwestern Iberia, followed a mysterious shining start to a Roman mausoleum hidden under briars. Inside where the remains of the apostle James the Greater (in Spanish, Santiago). Once the word spread, people's feet began pounding the pavement and thus the pilgrimage to Saint James was born. It's hard to imagine such news setting the stage for a modern day pilgrimage, but back in the 9th-century, under the rule of the much stricter, rigid and fear preaching Catholic church, one pretty much had to complete a religious pilgrimage to even entertain the notion of going to the heavenly hereafter. And so the pilgrimage to Saint James began and continues to this day. There are many routes or caminos to Saint James. The route I am taking, Camino Frances, is the most popular and well-developed and well-marked. Since this is my first trip to Spain and the first time I'm engaging in such an undertaking I felt it best I do the "easy" one first. The other camino's include:

- Camino Aragones - through Jaca and Sanguesa to join the Camino Frances

-Caminos del Norte - following the Basque, Cantabrian and Asturian coasts

-Via de la Plata - from southern Spain

- Camino Portugues - from Portugal

-there are also routes from any European front door - but you have to design your own route.

Thanks to Lonely Planet for providing much of this brief history!