Yes, this famous route, the French Route, of the Camino de Santiago has been in constant use for centuries. In truth, the use has seen ebbs and flows, with recent years showing a dramatic up-tick. Nevertheless, the historians and others have a general idea of the pathways which make up the Camino.

I had only thought vaguely about this until my feet were actually moving along the marked paths. After hearing from a fellow from South Africa who is working at restoration of one of the hundreds of churches along the way about the contemporary work being done to excavate not only the area around “his” church, but also the Camino itself, I began to realize that what we walk today is and is not the Camino de Santiago. I speak with no authority here, only supposition, but I would guess that parts of the route have been paved over, built over, or eroded away.

But as I walked through Hornillos del Camino and then, 13 miles later, Castrojerez with a couple of other spots on the map in between, I learned I was walking through villages which have been serving the pilgrims with food, lodging, health care and, most importantly, water, for at least 5 or 6 centuries. When walking these streets, sometimes only a throughway and a few sideways, my feet and those of my fellow modern pilgrims are actually stepping on the footfalls of the earliest pilgrims to Santiago.

As with all archaeology, I am both respectful and curious about the science and the art. As I walk the Camino, I listen for whispers, for moans, for the sounds of those who have previously passed. I look for the spirits of those who never made it to Santiago de Compostela, or even beyond to Finesterre (End of the Earth). But those who are doing the excavations must surely look for other than bones in finding the old ways. I’m sure there must be thousands of marked and unmarked graves along this way, but also bits of sandals, or what? What else remains but the spirit in marking the True Pilgrim Path?