The Way of St. James
The Way of St. James, also known as Camino de Santiago, is one of the most famous pilgrimage routes in Europe. The whole route is over 300 km long and leads through Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, France and ends up off the coast of Spain, in Santiago de Compostela. Since 1993 the Way of St. James has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List and its history began in 812, when the relics of St. James the Apostle were found.
The trail in the voivodeship runs through beautiful regions of Warmia and Western Masuria – the picturesque Drwęca valley, the shores of lakes, charming towns and places of religious cult. The Warmia-Masuria section of the trail has been conventionally divided into sections: Olecko-Kętrzyn-Olsztyn-Lipowiec.
The whole route is marked in three ways in the area of Masuria and Warmia:
- yellow arrows that accompany the whole route
- milestones with a yellow arrow painted on a blue background
- the characteristic shells that are the hallmark of the Camino pilgrims
Following in the footsteps of St. James, it is worth visiting St. James Cathedral in Olsztyn, the castle of the Warmian Chapter where Copernicus worked and lived, the Marian Sanctuary in Gietrzwałd, the Teutonic castle and the Gothic church of St. Dominic Savio in Ostróda, the church from the 14th century in Frednowy, and in Nowe Miasto Lubawskie it is worth stopping for a while at fragments of the defensive walls and city gates from the 14th century.