Camino Olvidado -- The Name

[peregrina2000]

I know that for years there have been several terms thrown around to refer to the route that goes through the mountains from Bilbao to Cacabelos, where it joins with the Camino Francés. I am happy to report that representatives from all of the towns that have land on the route have met and agreed to all use the term "Camino Olvidado" to refer to this route.

It is a small detail, I know, but I do remember when Susanna and I walked it years ago, we were unsure how to refer to it. The lack of specificity in terminology made for confusion and even less understanding of this untraveled route.

As you may have seen in some of the postings from forum members who have recently walked, the albergue situation is excellent, the route has less and less road walking thanks to efforts of the associations, and a couple of new mountain alternatives have been reported by @alansykes and others as terrific.

Maybe a burst in popularity awaits..... Buen camino, Laurie

 

[gollygolly]

Thanks for this post !!

I have not walked this Camino, though believe that it is also sometimes known as the Camino Viejo de Santiago, the Camino de la Montaña as well as the Camino Olvidado.

Can I ask how many days that you would allow for walking on this Camino ?

Much appreciated ...

 

[peregrina2000]

Thanks for this post !!

I have not walked this Camino, though believe that it is also sometimes known as the Camino Viejo de Santiago, the Camino de la Montaña as well as the Camino Olvidado.

Can I ask how many days that you would allow for walking on this Camino ?

Much appreciated ...

Yes, those are the names, but I would encourage everyone to FORGET about them! Olvidado is the way to go.

You can see my blog with stages here http://caminoolvidado.blogspot.com/

Gronze shows it as 18 days. That sounds about right. But if you research a bit on the forum, you will see that two of the stages have been altered to add mountains, take away pavement, and coincide with albergues. That might change it up a bit. Buen camino, Laurie

 

[t2andreo]

Thank you for the information. Heading over to the blog now...

 

[gollygolly]

Yes, those are the names, but I would encourage everyone to FORGET about them! Olvidado is the way to go.

You can see my blog with stages here http://caminoolvidado.blogspot.com/

Gronze shows it as 18 days. That sounds about right. But if you research a bit on the forum, you will see that two of the stages have been altered to add mountains, take away pavement, and coincide with albergues. That might change it up a bit. Buen camino, Laurie

Thanks so much - I will henceforth only think in terms of the Olvidado and begin some serious thinking about walking it...

 

[trecile]

How did the path come to have the name of Camino Olvidado - or Forgotten Way?

 

[peregrina2000]

How did the path come to have the name of Camino Olvidado - or Forgotten Way?

That's a great question. I will have to ask some of my buddies about that! Laurie

 

[Sheffield James]

What does this mean for the less well documented route from Pamplona to Aguilar de Campoo on the Olvidado (via Vitoria-Gestiez and Miranda de Ebro)? Are you aware of any appetite/plan to make it part of the official camino network?

 

[peregrina2000]

What does this mean for the less well documented route from Pamplona to Aguilar de Campoo on the Olvidado (via Vitoria-Gestiez and Miranda de Ebro)? Are you aware of any appetite/plan to make it part of the official camino network?

That’s another great question, and another one for which I have no answer. I will ask my pals and see what they can tell me. I assume they are going to concentrate first on getting this one “off the ground”, but I will find out.

 

[peregrina2000]

So, as promised, I have gotten a few answers to questions you guys had raised. Here is my rough translation of Ender’s email.

The word “Olvidado” was always used when we began the recuperation. The people living in the area used to talk about “that camino that everyone has forgotten.” Lost in many places. When the Bilbao association contacted me to try to revitalize the part in the province of León (a long stretch), that is the term they used. And that’s the term they used in their blog page. http://www.elcaminoolvidado.com

“Viejo camino” and. “Vexu Camín” are the names of the books that were written by Jesús Fernández Arenas and Julián González Prieto, respectively. In León it was known in some parts as the “Camino de la montaña”. And in Bierzo, they referred to it as “La Vía Nova”.

After two years of meetings, with the mess of names that people were using, we voted so that the route would be referred to with the same term in all publications, maps, markings, etc. We think this has helped to make this a more homogeneous and less confusing camino.

The 31st of this month we have a meeting wtih the company that is developing the app for mobile phones, the wep page, maps and guides. This is all supposed to be done by June.

The part from Pamplona will have to wait a while, especially because I am working on two new caminos — El Camino del Manzanal and El Camino de la Cepeda (note from the translator — I have NO idea where those are!!!).

Pamplona is a little far from me and I want to finish firt with all the caminos in León, but it is on my list for the future.

So there you have it. Ender is a man of limitless energy and devotion to the Camino. (And his wife a dear woman with endless patience!).

 

[MikeJS]

Quote - "The 31st of this month we have a meeting wtih the company that is developing the app for mobile phones, the wep page, maps and guides. This is all supposed to be done by June."
I would love this to be achieve although it does sound rather ambitious…… Hoping to walk this camino later this year.

 

[caminka]

the app already?! my goodness, ender is a star!

I think I teorised somewhere on this forum about the names for these caminos. olvidado is then settled. I still vote for the camino from pamplona to aguilar de campoo to be named viejo, as much in light of the roman road(s) and its(their) use before the francés has become the official camino, as for the books ender mentions above, describing the 10th century pilgrimage/journey of monk gundisalvo. I found this post https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/viejo-camino-de-santiago.7585/#post-78237 but I can't find the one with the referrences to the 'old camino'.

camino del manzanal must be the other route across montes de léon, mentioned by hermannus künig von vach at the end of the 15th century. (rought translation: 'If you go left [at cruceiro de s Toribio] you come to Astorga. But if you will follow my advice, you will go right and will not cross any mountains or slopes. If you leave on the left you pass a cottage before Rabanal which is my counsel. Along this route you come soon to Ponferrada. There ask for st Maurin. And leave Astorga. After 3 miles you find on the left a village then another. And there is good folk and sure path, and you get fine wine and bread. Soon there is Ponferrada.')
it crosses the pass of manzanal where the motorway and the main road run today. there has been archaological research into the routes across the pass in recent years. see here: http://www.traianvs.net/pdfs/2006_vias_romanas_de_astorga.pdf. that will be a challenge.

I haven't been able to find much on El Camino de la Cepeda, but it seems to be a connecting route from around hospital de órbigo to manzanal. see these articles: https://vivecamino.com/en/the-ii-ma...-brings-together-more-than-300-people-no-273/ and http://astorgaredaccion.com/art/202...amino-de-santiago-descrito-por-herman-kuening.

and this pdf should explain all: https://www.bierzoalto.com/wp-conte...ierzo-Alto-Rutas-del-Manzanal-y-la-Cepeda.pdf.