In English, “el Camino de Santiago” means “the Way of Saint James” and it represents the pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain. Legend has it that the remains of Jesus’s apostle Saint James the Greater lie in a silver casket under the Cathedral’s main altar. The pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela has existed as a Christian pilgrimage for well over 1,000 years.
Throughout the medieval period, it was one of the three most important Christian pilgrimages undertaken. Indeed, it was only these pilgrimages—to Jerusalem, to Rome, and to Santiago de Compostela—which could result in a plenary indulgence, which frees a person from penance due to their sins.