The Four Roads to Heaven: France and the Santiago Pilgrimage

“THERE ARE FOUR ROADS LEADING TO SANTIAGO, WHICH COMBINE TO FORM A SINGLE ROAD” -- So begins The Pilgrim’s Guide, the world’s first guidebook. Written early in the twelfth century by Benedictine monks, it served travelers taking part in the great pilgrimage of the Middle Ages, to the tomb of the apostle St. James, the cousin of Christ, at Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain. The four roads are all in France: from Paris in the north; from Vézelay in Burgundy; from Le Puy-en-Velay in th...