Pilgrimage - the great pilgrim routes of britain and europe

Pilgrimage in Europe is currently thriving on a massive scale. In 1990, less than 5000 pilgrimages were recorded by the cathedral at Santiago de Compostella in northwest Spain. Today the figure is over 200,000 a year. Derry Brabbs' highly successful Roads to Santiago focused exclusively upon the routes through France and Spain to Santiago de Compostela. This new book revisits the classic French route through northern Spain to Santiago, but adds twelve other inspirational journeys across Europe. Along the “Jakobsweg” in Germany the familiar scallop shell symbol can be followed all the way from the Baltic coast - this book focusses on the historic Rhineland route between Cologne and Trier. PILGRIMAGE, also, features the great routes of Britain and France including St Cuthbert's Way, winding through the Borders to the holy island of Lindesfarne and the World Heritage Site of Mont-St-Michel built on the tiny island off the coast of Normandy. The most notable addition to the rejuvenated era of pilgrimage is the Via Francigena, now a very well established path through Switzerland and Italy. The Italian section begins on the bleak summit of the Great St Bernard Pass where a hospice still caters to the needs of passing pilgrims before heading down to Rome through some of Italy's most beguiling countryside interspersed with mediaeval hilltop towns and villages.