Latvia starts outlining Santiago Way pilgrimage route from Estonian border

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On Sunday, near the Estonian-Latvian border, the northernmost signpost of the Camino de Santiago (St. James' Way) in Latvia has been set up, Latvian Radio reported August 2. 

Currently, between Riga and the Lithuanian border city Žagare, the road has already been marked. Now, the mapping work is starting in Vidzeme. In total, the route in Latvia could be more than 300 kilometres long.

In Latvia, the road is being built thanks to volunteers, many of whom have once walked the Santiago road abroad. Interest in the Latvian route is great, especially from foreign travelers.

"We all participated in this road-building, we have all walked Camino routes in Spain, in Portugal, in other lands. We couldn't imagine that once the path of St. James would be going through Latvia. But it turns out that in 1987, when the Santiago route was included in the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe program, the map had already highlighted that the path of St. James would also be passing through the Baltic States.

And now we're building it! We will now have the opportunity to show our land to the world from a different point of view. And it's really cool!", said Zaiga Ābele, one of the participants and author of a book on Camino de Santiago, Mans Ceļš.

The Camino de Santiago (the Way of St. James) is a large network of ancient pilgrim routes stretching across Europe and coming together at the tomb of St. James (Santiago in Spanish) in Santiago de Compostela in north-west Spain.

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