At the foot of the Ibañeta pass, where the peaks of the Western Pyrenees start rising up, lies Roncesvalles, a village nestled in a natural pass through the Pyrenees, surrounded by beech, fir and oak forests.
Since the 12th century, the refuge here has received “All pilgrims…sick and well…Catholics, Jews, pagans, heretics and vagabonds…”
This is the village I chose as the “official” starting point of my Camino to Santiago de Compostela.
I arrived late afternoon in icy rain and freezing cold, just in time to get my credential stamped, before attending the pilgrim’s mass (and receiving the pilgrim’s blessing) in the Colegiata de Santa María.
This is it, peeps! Tomorrow I start my walk.
Light a candle for me?
Daily Braveries 