There have been comments sprinkled around the forum on the newly marked Via Mariana route from Braga, through Santiago, and out to Muxia. Most recently, Sara Dhooma walked it, and I have moved the link to her vlog to this new Via Mariana sub-forum. In this thread I am also pasting in some of the comments I’ve culled from other threads to give people a flavor of this route.
First and most importantly, as @Bradypus reported today, there is now a pilgrim’s albergue in Braga, starting point of this camino (As well as starting point of the Camiño da Geira e dos Arrieiros (which also has its own sub-forum in the Camino Portugues sub-forum!).
A few other forum member comments:
From Rebekah:
Modern scholars identify "camino de santiago" routes by the historic record: the roads existed before the pilgrimage started up, But once the pilgrimage took hold, (the 11th century) were there pilgrim hospitals, Cluniac churches, pilgrim cemeteries, church records of pilgrim burials, meals served, beds kept, etc. in the given parish or town or city? There were plenty of roads that led to Santiago in the middle ages, but not all of them could be called "pilgrimage ways." Even so, three new "Caminos" were proposed this year in Galicia, by town councils ready to cash in on the Camino tourism phenomenon. (they call the historians in later to legitimize the claims.)
There are also some spectacular historic pilgrim trails in Spain, complete with infrastructure, that do not go to Santiago. The Via Mariana is one -- from Braga in northern Portugal to Muxia, but NOT Santiago! Newly waymarked, challenging hike through tiny villages, a series of shrines to the Virgin Mary (built over even more ancient holy wells)... about 400 km. Intriguing!
There are tons of colorful stories and great hikes out there. Sadly, if you want to get down and historical, you still need to read Spanish... or Gallego.
From @MyDestinationGalicia:
The best resource is Luis Freixo's Blog as its the best and is free see http://www.caminador.es/. You can view his maps of each stage of every Portuguese Camino (and there are rather alot of caminos to do including another new one thanks to Luis la Via Mariana via Arbo to add to the list from Braga! ) in alot of formats like Google Maps, Wikiloc or pdf which I prefer to use as you can download to your Smartphone and use offline so you don't need internet or drain your battery.
First and most importantly, as @Bradypus reported today, there is now a pilgrim’s albergue in Braga, starting point of this camino (As well as starting point of the Camiño da Geira e dos Arrieiros (which also has its own sub-forum in the Camino Portugues sub-forum!).
A few other forum member comments:
From Rebekah:
Modern scholars identify "camino de santiago" routes by the historic record: the roads existed before the pilgrimage started up, But once the pilgrimage took hold, (the 11th century) were there pilgrim hospitals, Cluniac churches, pilgrim cemeteries, church records of pilgrim burials, meals served, beds kept, etc. in the given parish or town or city? There were plenty of roads that led to Santiago in the middle ages, but not all of them could be called "pilgrimage ways." Even so, three new "Caminos" were proposed this year in Galicia, by town councils ready to cash in on the Camino tourism phenomenon. (they call the historians in later to legitimize the claims.)
There are also some spectacular historic pilgrim trails in Spain, complete with infrastructure, that do not go to Santiago. The Via Mariana is one -- from Braga in northern Portugal to Muxia, but NOT Santiago! Newly waymarked, challenging hike through tiny villages, a series of shrines to the Virgin Mary (built over even more ancient holy wells)... about 400 km. Intriguing!
There are tons of colorful stories and great hikes out there. Sadly, if you want to get down and historical, you still need to read Spanish... or Gallego.
From @MyDestinationGalicia:
The best resource is Luis Freixo's Blog as its the best and is free see http://www.caminador.es/. You can view his maps of each stage of every Portuguese Camino (and there are rather alot of caminos to do including another new one thanks to Luis la Via Mariana via Arbo to add to the list from Braga! ) in alot of formats like Google Maps, Wikiloc or pdf which I prefer to use as you can download to your Smartphone and use offline so you don't need internet or drain your battery.
