The Silver Way and Saint James Way in Ourense, Customized
The Silver Way is one of the official pilgrimage way that lead to Santiago de Compostela. This “camino” begins in Seville, crossing the peninsula from South to North to Santiago de Compostela. Its route exceeds 900 km. of which more than 200 pass through the Galician Community.
ZONE: Province of Ourense
TYPE OF TOUR: A la cartas
DURATION:
SCHEDULES: to be agreed
MEETING POINT: To be agreed
COST - PRICE:
LANGUAGES: Castellano, Galego, Français, Italiano, English, Deutsch, Português, otros (solicitar).
OBSERVATIONS:
Visit available all year
Mandatory Prior Reservation.
Subject to guide availability..
The visit may undergo changes for reasons beyond our control. The visit is conditioned by the openings, exceptional events of the places to visit.
Visits in languages: Only with previous reservation.
INCLUDED: Galicia Local Guide
TICKETS:
TRANSPORTATION, ACCOMMODATION AND FOOD: It can be managed with our collaborators
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Description
The Silver Way is one of the official pilgrimage way that lead to Santiago de Compostela. This “camino” begins in Seville, crossing the peninsula from South to North to Santiago de Compostela. Its route exceeds 900 km. of which more than 200 pass through the Galician Community.
Its name is especially striking and comes from the Arabic wordbalat o Bal’latta, which means paved road. The road has been historically used for the incursion into the interior of the Iberian Peninsula, as well as for the trade and transfer of travelers, being already used in the 7th century BC. With the Romans it was built and it became one of the great roads of the Empire in Hispania, linking Seville with Astorga. In the Middle Ages, it was still the main route that brought pilgrims from the south to the tomb of the Apostle Santiago.
At present the name of Vía de la Plata, as a pilgrimage path, summarizes the set of paths that extend this route to Compostela. Some of these important extensions reach Seville and come from towns such as Granada, Jaén, Córdoba, Huelva or Cádiz (they are called Camino Mozárabe, Vía Augusta, Camino del Sur). Others lead to the Vía de la Plata along its route or modify the route to shorten or vary the route, such as the section that passes from Zambra to Verin (Ourense) through Bragança (Portugal), the Portuguese Vía de la Plata.
The key point in the pilgrimage to Santiago, following the Roman route, is located at the height of Zamora, in the Granja de Moreruela, there the pilgrim can decide to follow the Via to Astorga and continue along the French Way, or continue from Moreruela by the Camino Sanabrés and Vía del Sur-Este, which is the extension of the Vía de la Plata through Ourense to Santiago. This variation of the path through Ourense and the south of Galicia is the most important that has been made during Christianity to reach the tomb of Santiago. Due to the spectacular nature of the route and less saturation, we recommend continuing along the sanabro-ourensano section.
The antiquity of the Vía de la Plata and the relevance of the cultural and natural heritage around the road make this road an exceptional tourist resource. The Vía passes through four World Heritage cities (Mérida, Cáceres, Salamanca, Santiago de Compostela) and through towns as beautiful as Zafra, Hervás, Zamora or Ourense.
The route along the Vía de la Plata allows the traveler to enjoy an important geographical, cultural, natural and ethnographic contrast, as well as a rich and varied gastronomy.
The Vía de la Plata is a world of sensations, it will surprise you!
At Genuine Galicia we want to link to the Vía de la Plata. We can make a section with you, include the Vía in a cultural route or accompany you on the itinerary for several days until you reach your goal.