The North Way, Galicia, Spain, Europe

After the discovering of the mortal remains of the apostle Santiago in year 813 the first and main ways of pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela started from the neighbouring kingdom of Asturias.

The way along the coast was as crowded as the Original Way and both were older than the later proclaimed by the spanish monarchs French Way. They were used as well as communication ways by the christian kingdoms of the north of Spain. The North Way is closely linked to the Cantabrian sea. Many christians did the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela by boat, disembarking in the different ports of the cantabrian coast, where they were put on record.

The acknowledgment of the French Way did not involve the decline of this asturian and galician ways thus the strech from León to Oviedo enjoyed greater popularity since the XI century and on.

The North Way is not only a coastal way for the natural habitants from Asturias living along the coast. Since the Middle Ages it was a way of international renown for the pilgrims who went from Oviedo to Santiago de Compostela and, although it was not so crowded as the French Way, is seemed to be really visited until the XVIII century. These pilgrims came by land form France, or by sea from nations as England, Flandes, Scandinavia or Germany, arriving to port in the Basque Country or in Cantabria. From there they went to the sanctuary of San Salvador in Oviedo and the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. Once they arrived to Castropol the pilgrims had to choose between crossing the ria of Ribadeo by boat or travelling across the right bank up to the bridge od Santiago de Abres, where they came in Galicia.

The North Way, formed by the coastal way and the Original Way, arises nowadays as an important alternative for those who know already the French Way or for those who do not want the overcrowding and the burning heat of the summer in Castile. In any case, the landscape is greener and the relief varied.