Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France
The Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France represent several sites related to the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Western Spain, a part of the Way of Saint James. Usually they are churches or hospitals.
Visit May 2006
The Amiens Cathedral, a WHS in its own right, is also part of this Route in France. I wasn't aware of that when I visited. Thanks to Klaus Freisinger (see visitor reviews below) for pointing that out!
Reviews
Philip T.K. (Canada):
 I actually never planned to visit this WHS although it consists of so many sites that it is hard to miss on a trip to France. Last July, I saw the Saint-Jacques Tower (fortunately without the scaffolding described by Ian) on my first full day in Paris and I later visited the huge Amiens Cathedral (also a WHS in its own right). Unfortunately, I was not able to visit the Alyscamps cemetery while in Arles due to time constraints, but I have seen photos and it looks quite interesting. |
| Date posted: May 2009 |
Ian Cade (England):
 The Pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compestela plays a large role in European history and as such is very justified in being inscribed on the WH list however I would like to support what Paul Tanner has said below about the viability of this site, it is an inscription that would make much more sense if it was to be combined into a much larger single site containing all the routes in the many Western European countries, the separate inscriptions suggest the route is a manifestly different entity in France than it is in Spain (or in the other countries) which seems to run against the importance of the route. The Council of Europe made the route to Santiago its first cultural route and this recognition makes much more sense when it is not broken up into separate national entities.
I visited Arles, which is one of the starting points of the four main routes in France, and I can strongly recommend a visit out les Alyschamps to see the Church of St Honorat, it is also a very interesting WHS site in itself.
I visited Mt St Michel in 2006 and there is are a few Scallop shells around the town (picture), keep an eye out for the nice hand basin just inside the main gate.
About 15 years ago I visited the charming town of Rocamadour, as mentioned below, it was a lovely place, with a great Eagle sanctuary and prehistoric cave (frustratingly not part of the very nearby WHS of the Decorated Grottoes of the Vézére Valley) I am pretty certain I visited the inscribed church, but as I was so young I am not counting that one.
I have also visited some parts of the route in Belgium, Switzerland and a few random churches on minor routes in France.
I visited the Cathedral at Chatres, but despite it being on the route and it displaying the scallop shell to signify its welcome to pilgrims, it is not part of this WHS inscription. I am still trying to work out why some sites are included and others aren’t.
In Paris I visited Tour Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie, which is opposite Hotel de Ville. This was the meeting point for all pilgrims setting off from Paris. I first saw it in Feb 2006 and there was scaffolding around it I went back in Sep 2006 and hoped to get a better look, however it was now shrink wrapped and unfortunately will be so for the next 3-4 years as a major restoration is taking place. One plus point is that you can look into the courtyard to see the sculpting of the replacement sculptures; it is a small consolidation to see conservation in action! |
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Klaus Freisinger (Austria):
The historic and religious importance of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela, whether in Spain, France, or beyond, is obvious, and I agree that the French and Spanish parts should be combined to form a single part. The interesting thing for me is that this is a site I didn´t even plan to visit, but since there are sites inscribed on the WH list both on their own merit and as part of the Santiago Route, going to one of these places will give you two WH sites at one stroke. I´ve been to the Cathedrals of Amiens and Bourges without knowing they would give me an additional WH site...
Later I also visited the Gothic-style Tower of St.Jacques in central Paris, next to the Louvre on the rue de Rivoli. It is actually the only remaining part of the former church of St. Jacques de la Boucherie, a popular stop for pilgrims on the Way of St. James. It is set in a pleasant park right in the heart of Paris and was for many years renovated and covered by scaffolding. A nice sight, but nothing extraordinary. Many tourists have probably wandered by already and ignored it, but for WH collectors it is an easy pick. |
| Date posted: August 2006 |
Ian Cade (England):
 The Pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compestela plays a large role in European history and as such is very justified in being inscribed on the WH list however I would like to support what Paul Tanner has said below about the viability of this site, it is an inscription that would make much more sense if it was to be combined into a much larger single site containing all the routes in the many Western European countries, the separate inscriptions suggest the route is a manifestly different entity in France than it is in Spain (or in the other countries Germany, Switzerland, Belgium etc) which seems to run against the importance of the route. The Council of Europe made the route to Santiago its first cultural route and the recognition of it makes much more sense when it is not broken up into separate national entities.
About 15 years ago I visited the charming town of Rocamadour, as mentioned below, it was a lovely place, with a great Eagle sanctuary and prehistoric cave (frustratingly not part of the very nearby WHS of the Decorated Grottoes of the Vézére Valley) I am pretty certain I visited the inscribed church, but as I was so young I am not counting that one.
Whenb i was younger i saw Mont St Michel but didn't really visit it. I attempted to rectify this in 2004 but frustratingly I was not able to make the short journey down from Cherbourg to see the site properly (the trains are very infrequent only two a day!). I have also visited some parts of the route that have been preserved in Belgium and a few random churches on minor routes in France! I visited the Cathedral at Chatres, but despite it being on the route and it displaying the scallop shell to signify its welcome to pilgrims, it is not part of this WHS inscription.
So I thought I was going to finally tick the site of when I was in Paris in 2006, I planned to visit the tower of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie which is opposite Hotel de Ville. This was the meeting point for all pilgrims setting off from Paris. With the luck I have had trying to visit aspects of this site I was not surprised to find that when I got to it the tower was completely covered in scaffolding and cordoned off from all visitors (hence the picture!).
At some stage I will tick this site of but for the moment it is a rather frustrating and amusing inclusion on my list of sites that I have seen but not visited! |
| Date posted: March 2006 |
Paul Tanner (UK):
 Reading this site's description is like reading a gazetteer of French towns and villages west of the Paris/Rhone axis – it contains 69 different locations (out of 800 possible ones linked to the pilgrimage route). But think what it would have been like if France had followed the approach of Spain for its “Route” and inscribed its entirety together with 30 metres either side! Instead the “locations” are usually 1 building per town and cover the 4 starting points at Paris, Vezelay, Le Puy and Arles together with places as varied as Mont-Saint-Michel and Bordeaux. 10 cathedrals are included, together with abbeys, churches and hospices. 7 of the locations are already inscribed in their own right, usually because of their role in the pilgrimage route – a nice bit of double counting!
However, as Els’s “themes” section shows, Christian sites are heavily over-represented in the WHS list and this site should surely have been combined with the 2 Spanish Compestela route sites and some of the separate French pilgrimage route sites such as Vezalay and Bourges as well !. All this duplication does seem “overkill”- If the UK can agree to “give up” Hadrian’s Wall and subsume it with a German site under a combined “Frontiers of Rome” how come France was given a separate inscription for this site in 1998?
Leaving aside these issues, there is no doubt that the inscription contains many interesting and even significant buildings. Most of the towns and villages would well justify a couple of hours of the time of anyone touring France. We have, over the years, visited many of the 69 locations but I have chosen Rocamadour as the photo to represent the entire site - and a very pleasant little town it is. The town itself is not inscribed however – only the church of St Sauveur (the tall building at mid level) |
| Date posted: January 2006 |
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