Spain: Camino de Santiago

LEARNING ALONG A MEDIEVAL PILGRIMAGE

According to tradition, the Apostle James ("Santiago" in Spanish) evangelized the Iberian Peninsula and was later buried in northwestern Spain at what is now Santiago de Compostela. For more than a thousand years, pilgrims have made their way to this city to venerate the remains of the saint. Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (el Cid) made the journey, as did St. Francis of Assisi, Isabel and Ferdinand, along with so many others who continue to walk this iconic pilgrimage route that includes stretches of Roman roads, passes through numerous medieval towns, and crosses spectacular landscapes.

Students who participate in this unique study abroad program will walk 470 miles of the Camino Francés (the French Way), the most popular route to reach Saint James’s tomb, starting in Roncesvalles along the French border and ending in Santiago de Compostela. Not every day is a walking day, however, and the program will visit amazing sites, including the Prado Museum in Madrid, the historic city of Toledo, the route followed by the running of the bulls in Pamplona, the Benedictine monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos, one of the filming locations of Sergio Leone’s The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, and the beaches of Fisterra. Along the way, students will learn about and experience more than two millennia of Spanish history and culture.

Click here to apply today!