On the Ways of Saint James of Compostela

The Paris-Tours road, via Turonensis, leads from Pleine-Selve to Belin-Beliet, by way of Blaye, Bordeaux and Gradignan. This was the route that Charlemagne took when he came, as legend has it, to bury Roland in Blaye and his companions-at-arms in Belin-Beliet after the defeat at Ronceveaux (August 778).

The Vézelay road, via Podiensis, is made up of two routes that join up in Bazas, one passing through Sainte-Foy-la-Grande and La Réole, and the other through La Sauve-Majeure, a major centre where pilgrims gathered together to set off for Compostela and the Holy Land.

The coastal road, also known as the “English Way’, runs alongside the Atlantic dunes from Soulac, where pilgrims from England, Holland, Brittany and Normandy gathered, to Bayonne.

Six major edifices along the Way of Saint James are listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites: Saint-Seurin and Saint-Michel Basilicas and the  Saint-André Cathedral in Bordeaux, Notre-Dame-de-la-Fin-des-Terres in  Soulac, La Sauve-Majeure Abbey, and  Saint-Jean-Baptiste Cathedral in  Bazas.

Association Régionale des Amis de Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle
info@saint-jacques-aquitaine.com   www.saint-jacques-aquitaine.com

BORDEAUX

Bordeaux stands on the Tours road and Compostela’s pilgrims have left much evidence of their passing within its walls. Three edifices are listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites (separate from the city’s overall listing):

- Saint-Seurin Basilica , Place des Martyrs de la Résistance. The original pilgrimage site where Charlemagne left Roland’s horn after the defeat at Ronceveaux.

- Saint-André Cathedral , Place Pey-Berland. Consecrated by Pope Urban II in 1095, during the First Crusade, it was also the scene of Louis VII’s wedding to Eleanor of Aquitaine.

- Saint-Michel Basilica , Place Meynard. The church once sheltered a major pilgrim confraternity. It houses a chapel dedicated to Saint James containing fine ornamentation in his commemoration, a 15^th -century statue of the Saint, and a pilgrim’s tombstone.

HAUTE GIRONDE

Asques : headquarters of a Templar commandery founded in 1160 and housing a hospice and a Saint James confraternity; it was here that pilgrims crossed the Dordogne.

Magrigne : 12^th -century Romanesque Templar chapel, decorated with murals and a Maltese cross. It was attached to the Bordeaux commandery and provided shelter for numbers of pilgrims.

Blaye : according to a Carolingian legend, Roland’s body lay in crypt at the foot of the Citadel beside the remains of Saint Romain, who founded a church in the 4^th  century. Blaye also contained a hospice for pilgrims on their way to Compostela.

Saint-Martin-Lacaussade :  12^th -century Templar chapel, to which a pilgrims’ shelter was attached.

Saint-Vincent-de-Marcillac : 12^th -century Romanesque church and cemetery containing a 15^th -century sculpted cross depicting the twelve Apostles.

 
HAUT ENTRE DEUX MERS

Saint-Macaire:  Saint-Sauveur church welcomed pilgrims. Its walls are adorned with a mural fresco representing the “Wonders worked by Saint James against Hermogenes” told of in the “Golden Legend”.

Sallebruneau : medieval commandery of the Knights Hospitaller of Saint John of Jerusalem, which included a small church and a hospital that were laid waste during the Hundred Years’ War and the Wars of Religion. Restoration of the site is currently underway.

Bellefond : Sainte-Eutrope priory church  was built in the 12^th  century and possesses an outdoor font for pilgrims and a devotional fountain.

Sainte-Radegonde:  12^th -century Romanesque church with a fine sculpted tympanum.

Blasimon : a magnificent abbey founded by a Saint-Onge hermit in the 8^th  century. Pilgrims were accommodated at the La Roque hospice nearby.

Saint-Ferme:  a fine Romanesque-style abbey church set in the heart of a former Benedictine monastery.

Monségur : site of a hospital first mentioned in 1306. A road led to Roquebrune past the Coutures priory hospital, which was attached to the Saint-Ferme Abbey commandery.

La Réole :  A hospice that provided shelter for pilgrims. The prior received donations to enable pilgrims to cross the Garonne by paying the ferryman.

Pondaurat : medieval commandery of the Hospitaller order of Saint Antoine.

 
ENTRE DEUX MERS

Langoiran : A modillion on the pediment of the Romanesque church of Saint-Pierre overlooking the village represents a Saint James scallop shell.

Haux : a statue of Saint James supplicated by two pilgrims was found in the Saint-Martin church.

La Sauve : the famous Benedictine Abbey of La Sauve-Majeure was founded by Saint Gerard in 1079 and became a gathering point for pilgrims setting off to Compostela and Jerusalem. The abbey church includes an infirmary, a hospice and a chapel dedicated to Saint James. On the lateral wall near the chancel is a medaillon depicting Saint James holding his torturer’s sword.

Baron : 11th-century crypt dedicated to Saint James.

Nérigean : in the Romanesque church of Saint-Martin’s south chapel stands a statue of Saint Remède, found near a miraculous spring to which pilgrims came to be cured of their ailments.

Cadillac : The present psychiatric hospital, which stands on the site of a medieval hospice for pilgrims on the Way of Saint James, contains two cells preserved in their original state for use by present-day pilgrims.

Rions : a confraternity of Saint James met in Saint-Seurin church up until 1636. On the church portal you can see the coat of arms of the Albret family, decorated with Saint James scallop shells. Pilgrims’ sepultures in the cemetery contain perforated scallop shells.

LIBOURNAIS

Fronsac : Pilgrims could cross the Dordogne from Perpignan port at the entrance to the municipality. A cross (1622) stands beside the wall of the cemetery near Saint-Michel church.

Villegouge : one of the capitals in the 11^th -century Saint-Pierre church is sculpted with a Saint James scallop shell and a figure holding a pilgrim’s staff. A 19^th -century stained-glass window depicts Saint James.

Guîtres : a fine abbey church dating back to the 11^th  and 15^th  centuries and which was once the headquarters of a Saint James confraternity. Numbers of pilgrims are buried at the foot of the altar.

Puisseguin : modelled on the Saint James of Compostela Cathedral, five of the portal’s foils end in finials.

Montagne : a Saint James scallop shell and a piece of a pilgrim’s staff were found in the tomb of a pilgrim buried in front of the church portal.

Saint-Emilion : a major stop-off for pilgrims, who came to venerate the relics of Saint Emilion conserved in the underground church. Many among their number are buried at the foot of the Saint James altar in the collegiate church and in the Madeleine cemetery.

 
SOUTH GIRONDE

Gradignan : this was a major stop-off.  Saint-Pierre church contains a 15^th -century polychrome wooden statue of Saint James, while the  Cayac priory comprises a church, a priory hospital and the remains of the ornamental paving of the road taken by the pilgrims. The hospital was one of the largest in the Southwest of France. The priory continues to provide lodgings for present-day pilgrims.

Belin-Beliet :  Vieux Lugo church stands in the forest and was a major stop-off point for pilgrims. Its mural frescoes depict pilgrims rewarded by Divine mercy. The Mons church served as a shelter for pilgrims who had come to venerate the statue of Saint Clair (near the church) and the knights’ tomb (legend has it that the bodies of Charlemagne’s companions-at-arms were buried beneath a tumulus close to the church).

Rétis  near Hostens : this little Romanesque chapel is now a museum exhibiting items connected to the Saint James of Compostela pilgrimage.

Origne : Murals in Saint-Jean church depict Saint James.

Bazas : a hospice for pilgrims was founded here by the Knights Templar in the 12^th  century.

Saint-Michel-de-Rieufret:  the church contains a statue of Saint Roch on pilgrimage to Compostela. A stone offertory table still standing in front of the church once received the offerings presented by local pilgrims and those on the Way of Saint James in the hope of warding off the plague.

La Brède : A palmette in the shape of a Saint James scallop shell is to be seen on the right capital of the Romanesque church of Saint-Jean d’Estampes.

Cadaujac : A stone standing to the left of the church is sculpted with a pilgrim’s staff and Saint James scallop shells, and points the way to the pilgrims’ road.

MEDOC

Saint-Médard-en-Jalles : 12^th -century Romanesque church in which an altar was dedicated to Saint James up until the 17^th  century. Pilgrim’s tomb in the cemetery adjoining the church.

Moulis : Saint-Saturnin church once possessed a Saint James altar at which pilgrims gathered. There is a font at the church entrance.

Benon : a Templar church that stood in the heart of a commandery and hospital built by the Knights Hospitaller of Saint John of Jerusalem.

Soulac : Listed as a  UNESCO World Heritage site as part of the Ways of Saint James of Compostela, the Notre-dame-de-la-Fin-des-Terres church was much frequented by pilgrims.

Saint-Vivien-de-Médoc : On obligatory stop-off for pilgrims. There are columns sculpted with Saint James scallop shells in the church’s chevet.

Lesparre : pilgrim’s sepultures in the old cemetery are decorated with Saint James scallop shells and the iron-tipped ends of pilgrims’ staffs.

Port de By :  port of arrival for pilgrims who had crossed the Gironde.

Ordonnac : Only a fragment remains of the walls of the great abbey founded in 1130, in which Augustinian monks once provided assistance to pilgrims.