You’ve probably heard somewhere and something about the Camino de Santiago di Compostela so far, and this was most likely associated with a long, thousands of kilometers long Pilgrimage Route somewhere in France or Spain that is strictly ment for pilgrims and leads to a small Spanish coastal town in the north of the country.
But have you heard the actual? – that this way leads now all pilgrims, all of those who care about being on the road and being with themselves, all of those, who choose to walk in order to sort out their thoughts, re-evaluate life and values, and all of those to whom it’s important to go – to this small, holy Spanish town for several thousand kilometers throughout all Europe, including Latvia, because since 2019 Latvia also has its own St. James Way on the route Valka-Žagare, with an additional, the so-called St. Meinard’s branch on the route Riga-Skaistkalne.
Every year Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims and hikers choose St. James Way to walk, search and find, and we are very happy and honored that the Riga-Skaistkalne route of the Latvian branch gave to Salaspils county the opportunity to be a part of this sacred and exploratory road stage. The road leads through our region for 18 km, starting at the Dārziņi train station, winding through the city, thus finding an opportunity for pilgrims to stop at each of the three churches in our city, and ending in Saulkalne, where the road passes further to Ikšķile (soon – Ogre region). The road in our county is marked with temporary identification signs – stickers of shells and arrows on the regular road poles, as well there are 6 places outside the city in the territory of the county, where recognition bars of St. James Way are entered.
At the Salaspils county Tourism Information Center (when the on-site work will be resumed), pilgrims will also have the opportunity to receive local stamps in their Camino di Santiago passports.
Let the Way lead you!
Please see the route map in Salaspils region here: https://visit.salaspils.lv/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Salaspils_novada_karte2020_Camino-Latvia-1.pdf
The information prepared by:
Jana Freimane
Salaspils county tourism organizer
