🏞️ The Camino de Santiago - Via Turonensis
Medieval pilgrimage route from Paris to the Pyrenees
📋 Fast Facts
- 870 km pilgrimage route from Paris to the Pyrenees, established in the 12th century
- UNESCO World Heritage designation as part of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France (1998)
- Named after Tours, home to the Basilica of St. Martin, a major medieval pilgrimage shrine
- Passes through Paris, Orléans or Chartres, Tours, Poitiers, Saintes, Bordeaux, and Dax before converging with other French routes at Ostabat-Asme
The Via Turonensis is one of four principal French routes of the Camino de Santiago, originating in Paris at the Church of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie (today represented by the Tour Saint-Jacques) and extending south through the Loire Valley and Aquitaine regions. Codified in the 12th-century Codex Calixtinus, it served medieval pilgrims from northern Europe—English, Flemish, German, and Scandinavian travellers—who converged on Paris before heading toward Santiago de Compostela in Spain. The ...