Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: camino

During Roman times the settlement was known as Astigi. Caesar ordered the town's fortification and refounded it as a Julian colony. According to Pliny the Elder who wrote in the 1st century AD, it was the rival of Cordova and Seville. After the Romans, it was ruled by successively by Suevs and Visigoths. It was also from an early date the seat of a diocese. St. Fulgentius (died before 633), was named to the see by his brother Isidore of Seville. In 711, Écija was conquered by an Islamic army on its way to Córdoba. Capital of an extensive Kūra, Écija preserved its condition as a centre of high agricultural productivity. The place was seized by Christians in 1240. The proximity to the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada turned Écija into a border town. Most of the mudéjar population was expelled in 1263. The Jewish population suffered the antisemitic revolt initiated after the assault on the jewry of Seville in June 1391, that spread across Andalusia. During the 15th century, Écija was the third most important urban centre of the Kingdom of Seville after Seville and Jerez. Estimations for the 15th century yield a population of about 18,000 (today 40.000). The Camino de Santiago is everywhere

Freiberg came into being around 1162/1170. Between 1156 and 1162, Margrave Otto von Meissen had the forest cleared and several villages laid out, including Christiansdorf. In 1168 silver ore was discovered near Christiansdorf. The promise of special freedoms for the miners attracted numerous miners, traders and craftsmen, along with their families, to the Ore Mountains. Due to the wave of immigration, the city of Freiberg developed within two decades. This name is derived from the important feature, the freedom of mining introduced by Margrave Otto, i.e. the mining rights of every immigrant. Anyone could dig for the silver ore for a fee. The silver could only be sold to the margravial mint. The wealth of silver and the mint made the Electorate of Saxony a prosperous state. Further development in the 13th century is characterized by constant growth after the municipality was almost completely destroyed by a city fire around 1225. A town school was established in 1260, which had been converted into a Latin school in 1515. In the 14th century, crises gradually emerged, which were mainly caused by the decline in silver production from the middle of the 14th century and by large-scale city fires. In the 15th century, Freiberg lost its leading economic position within Saxony to Leipzig due to the exodus of capital. The Bergakademie was founded in 1765, one of the world's oldest mining engineering universities. - Around 1180, the Romanesque basilica "Unserer Lieben Frauen" was built in Freiberg, which was developing rapidly due to the silver that had been found. In 1480, the church was turned into a Collegiate church. However, the college was dissolved after only 57 years due to the reformation of the Electorate of Saxony. In the great fire of 1484, the church was almost completely destroyed. The "Cathedral of St. Mary" was built at the same location as a triple-naved Gothic hall church. The cathedral was reconsecrated in 1512. All roads somehow lead to Santiago de Compostela.

Already in the 7th century, it was the location of a fortified Slavonic settlement, at a ford in the Vistula river. Thorn was established in 1231 under the administration of the Teutonic Order. The Teutonic Order had been called earlier by the Polish Duke Conrad of Mazovia to Christianize the pagan Baltic Pruzzes. However, the Order became active only after Emperor Frederick II granted it the right to rule over the land to be conquered in 1226. The foundation stone of the city of Thorn was laid in 1231 and soon after immigrants from Westphalia populated the town. In the 14th century, Thorn joined the Hanseatic League. The Order's efforts to simultaneously expand its sovereignty and control trade led to warlike conflicts. The city was captured by Poland in 1410 during the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War however, after the First Peace of Thorn was signed in 1411, the city fell back to the Teutonic Order. In the 1420s, Polish King Władysław II Jagiełło built the Dybów Castle, located in present-day left-bank Toruń. In 1440, the gentry of Thorn co-founded the Prussian Confederation to further oppose the Knights' policies. The Confederation rose against the Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights in 1454 and its delegation submitted a petition to Polish King Casimir IV Jagiellon asking him to regain power over the region as the rightful ruler. These events led to the Thirteen Years' War. The citizens of the city conquered the Teutonic castle and dismantled the fortifications. In May 1454, a ceremony was held in Toruń, during which the nobility, knights, landowners, mayors, and local officials solemnly swore allegiance to the Polish King. During the war, Toruń financially supported the Polish Army. The Thirteen Years' War ended in 1466, with the Second Peace of Thorn, in which the Teutonic Order renounced any claims to the city and recognized it as part of Poland. During the Great Northern War (Deluge), the city was besieged by Swedish troops. In the second half of the 17th century, tensions between Catholics and Protestants grew. In the early 18th century about half of the population, especially the gentry and middle class, was German-speaking and Protestant, while the other half was Polish-speaking Roman Catholic. The old town of Torun is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. - St. Jakub (St. James) was built from 1309 to the 15th century. The cornerstone for the construction was laid by Bishop Herman in 1309. In the same year, the construction of the presbytery began, which was covered with a stellar vault, In the 14th century, the parish was started to be managed by the cisterns, then the Benedictine nuns. In the years 1557-1667 the parish church belonged to the Evangelical community, then it was regained by the Benedictine nuns, who managed the temple until the 19th century. From then to the present day the parish church. Due to the characteristic shape and the many architectural details the church is one of the important examples of brick architecture in the Baltic Sea area. This church is a halt on the long "camino" to Santiago de Compostella.

Nysa was probably founded in the 10th century. The name of the Nysa river, from which the town takes its name, was mentioned in 991 when it was part of the Duchy of Poland under Mieszko I. A Polish stronghold was built in Nysa in the 11th and 12th centuries due to the proximity of the border with the Czech Duchy. From the 14th century on it was administered by the Bishopric of Wrocław. Nysa was granted town rights around 1223 and attracted Flemish and German settlers. In 1241 it was ravaged by the Mongols during the first Mongol invasion. In 1245, it was granted staple right and two yearly fairs were established. Nysa became an important trade and craft center of Poland before it passed under the suzerainty of the Bohemian Crown in 1351, under which it remained until 1742. The town's fortifications from 1350 served to defend against the Hussites in 1424. During the Thirty Years' War, it was besieged three times. It was looted by the Saxons and Swedes. During the First Silesian War in 1741, it was captured by Prussians. In 1758 it was unsuccessfully besieged by the Austrians and stayed Prussian. Towards the end of WWII, about 80% of the city center was destroyed. Most affected were the houses on the Rynek (Market Place) and the houses along the main streets. - There has been a Romanesque church at the site since the first was built between 1195 and 1198. This church was destroyed during the first Mongol raid in 1241. The rebuilding process started immediately, but in 1249, during a dispute between Bolesław II the Horned and Henry III the White the church burned down. After the reconstruction, the church survived for about 150 years, despite the damage caused in 1285 by the forces of Henryk IV Probus (aka "Henry the Just"). The first stage of the new Gothic church was built before 1392. The Gothic choir with an ambulatory and the nave with six bays were built, but it burned down in 1401. In 1424 the master-builder Peter Frankenstein was commissioned to continue. He built a Gothic three-nave hall church from bricks on the model of the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and St. Adalbert in Gniezno. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the interior was remodeled in the Baroque style, covering the wall and ceiling paintings with stucco and removing many Gothic items. The church suffered significant damage in 1741 during the Silesian Wars and again in 1807 during the artillery bombardment by the Grande Armée. In 1889-1895 the church was thoroughly renovated The baroque interior was replaced by a neo-Gothic one. Just before WWII, an attempt was made to restore the original appearance of the church, but during the fighting in 1945 the interior burned down, and the western gable collapsed. Meanwhile, the restoration is done. The new roof structure was made of steel to avoid fire hazards. In medieval times this church was a halt on the way to Santiago. And it is again!

The origins of Klimontów date back to the 13th century, when it was founded as a village. In 1604 it received town rights, and in 1613 the town was granted permission to hold three fairs a year. Two years later, the construction of a Dominican monastery was completed. The "Lesser Poland Way" (Małopolska Droga św. Jakuba) is a medieval pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. It runs from Sandomierz to Kraków. The Lesser Poland Way was reopened in 2009 and passes next to the former Dominican convent. The way to Santiago de Compostela from here is about 3000 km long.

A fortress of a regional tribe is attested here. After its destruction, Casimir I the Restorer, son of Mieszko II Lambert, had a castle built here. In 1205 Roman of Volhynia unsuccessfully besieged the castle. In 1241 Lublin was destroyed by the Tatars. In 1244 the place was conquered by Lithuanians, in the same year, Daniel Romanovich of Galicia conquered and fortified it. Under the protection of the castle, the settlement developed into a trade center. In 1317 it received the town charter. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the town grew rapidly. The largest trade fairs of the Polish-Lithuanian community were held in Lublin. In the 16th century, the parliaments (Sejm) of the Kingdom of Poland were held in Lublin several times. At one of the most important ones, the "Union of Lublin" was proclaimed in 1569, uniting Poland and Lithuania. After the capital was moved from Krakow to Warsaw in 1596, Lublin was located away from the main traffic and trade routes. As a result, there was an economic and cultural decline. In the course of the Counter-Reformation, the Protestants were forcibly expelled from the city in 1631, so many merchants emigrated. In 1655 Cossacks sacked the town and the following year Swedish soldiers. After the Northern War, the reconstruction of the town began. Stanislaus II August Poniatowski allowed Protestants to settle in the city again. At this time, a significant Jewish community was also established. The Jews were an important part of life in the city until the Holocaust. During WWII they were deported by Nazi Germany to the infamous Lublin Ghetto and eventually murdered. After the Third Partition of Poland in 1795, Lublin was part of the Austrian Empire, after the Austro-Polish War of 1809 it was part of the short-lived Polish Duchy of Warsaw, and in 1815 it was part of Congress Poland as part of the Russian partition of Poland. Russian rule ended in 1915 when the city was occupied by German and Austro-Hungarian armies. After the end of World War I, the Provisional People's Government of the Republic of Poland - the first government of independent Poland - was based in Lublin for a short time. - The "Coquille Saint-Jacques" leading the way to Santiago de Compostella is everywhere.

A settlement was located here, that was destructed in 1325 by the Lithuanians. It was rebuilt and it was granted town privileges in 1364 by order of the Bishop of Warmia. The town was built with a central square and the parish church of St. Anne. North of the church was the bishop's castle in which the burgrave resided. It joined the Prussian Confederation in 1440 and in 1466 the town was confirmed as part of the Kingdom of Poland. It was the place of fights of the Polish–Teutonic War of 1519–1521. In 1521 the Teutonic Knights launched artillery fire on the town but had to withdraw. Ultreia! ... and a former bakery in the back.

All ways end in Santiago de Compostella.

I had reached Saintes in 2015 and now, a year later, continued to walk south, following the "Via Turonensis". Here is the first signpost just outside of Saintes.