Camino de Santiago Vía Aquitania
3,8 km
5,8 km
3,9 km
4,7 km
6 km
2,5 km
7,5 km
5,5 km
6,3 km
14,3 km
8,1 km
2,2 km
10,5 km
4,2 km
5,5 km
Route of the Castilian Stretch of the Camino Via Aquitania
The Camino Via Aquitania begins at Deobrigula, Tardajos (Burgos Province), passes through Segisamone, Sasamon (Burgos Province), makes use of the towpaths of the Canal de Castilla overlaid on the Roman road along this stretch, to skirt the oppidum of Dessobriga to the north between Melgar de Fernamental (Burgos Province) and Osorno (Palencia Province), and continues on to Villalcazar de Sirga (Palencia Province).
It joins the Camino Calixtinus two and a half kilometres past Arconada and a kilometre and a half from the town centre of Villalcazar de Sirga, along the towpath of the river Ucieza beside the Ermita de Nuestra Señora del Rio, a path recently restored by pilgrims, whose surrounding Roman settlements appear to be the origin of the town. As early as documents from 1069, this town was referred to as Villasirga, in reference to the road or path that passed nearby along the river Ucieza, which the earliest pilgrims, diverted from the Roman road, must have used.
«The old Camino Frances is still called “La Sirga”, where, very close to the present-day Ermita (del Rio), the Camino Norte, which gathered pilgrims arriving via Osorno and Arconada, met the busier Eastern route coming from Burgos, which, passing through Bohadilla and Fromista, reached as far as Villasirga».
“Another of the auxiliary pilgrimage routes passed through here, entering the north of our province, coming from Osorno towards Villasirga, and known by the name of Camino Frances or Camino de los Peregrinos”.
This is the original Camino de Santiago Frances, as Ramon Revilla Vielva tells us in this quotation when discussing Arconada, referring to this stretch as the camino frances, since in Palencia this road has always been called that of the French, as shown on the maps of the Instituto Geografico Nacional, coexisting to this day with the newer Camino Frances Calixtino.
From here it continues along the same road to the remains of Lacobriga, beside the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Belen, Carrion de los Condes.
It continues on to Santiago de Compostela via the present-day Camino de Santiago Frances, Via Aquitania stretch.
Vía Aquitania
The Via Aquitania was a Roman road built in 118 BC in Gaul as a route into the north of Gaul, Aquitania, from the Mediterranean coast. It began at Narbo Martius (Narbonne), the capital of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis, where it joined the Via Domitia. From Narbo Martius it ran towards the Atlantic Ocean, through Tolosa (Toulouse), reaching Burdigala (Bordeaux) after roughly 400 km.
Vía Aquitania – Camino de Santiago Francés
Later, in the Middle Ages, the name «Via Aquitania» was also given to Roman road XXXIV, or Ab Asturica Burdigalam (Astorga – Bordeaux), used as a feeder route by French pilgrims setting out on the Camino de Santiago. This route is known as the Camino de Santiago Frances and, along some forgotten stretches, is now being restored, as in the case of the Camino de Santiago Via Aquitania.
Itinerario de la Vía Aquitania
The Via Aquitania was the main Roman road in the province of Aquitania. The province of Aquitania lies in the south-west of Gaul. Its boundaries are the Pyrenees to the south, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the river Loire to the north. The Via Aquitania begins at Narbonne, where it connects to the Via Domitia. Narbonne was the first Roman colony in Gaul, founded as an agricultural colony. Besides Narbonne, two other important cities, Toulouse and Bordeaux, lie along the Via, the main trade route linking them to the Atlantic.
In Toulouse, the Via Aquitania meets roads leading north (to Lyon, which was the main junction of the Gallic roads). Toulouse later became the capital of the Visigoths. The Via Aquitania ended at Burdigala, present-day Bordeaux. Bordeaux is a major international trading city, owing to its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. After Gaul was divided into the three provinces of Aquitania, Belgica, and Lugdunensis, Bordeaux became the capital of Aquitania. The Via Aquitania connected these important cities with the south of Gaul.
Another road linked Bordeaux with Astorga, passing through: Pamplona, Virovesca (Briviesca) and Pallantia (Palencia).
Itinerario Camino de Santiago Vía Aquitania
The Camino a Santiago Via Aquitania is a route that, in its Castilian stretch, follows the course of the Roman road between Deobrigula (Tardajos), Segisamone (Sasamon), Dessobriga (Osorno la Mayor) (Melgar de Fernamental) and Lacobriga (Carrion de los Condes)
During the Middle Ages, the name Via Aquitania was given to Roman road XXXIV, or Ab Asturica Burdigalam (Astorga – Bordeaux), used as a route by pilgrims from the region of Aquitania who set out on the way to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in the city of Santiago de Compostela, the origin of the Camino de Santiago Frances.