GUÍA VISUAL DEL CAMINO PRIMITIVO
Since the beginning of the first pilgrimages and to ease the fact of going
from one country to another, both accreditation documents and letters of
recommendation were created in religious centres before starting a way.
Nowadays, they are put together in just one document, which is given in
different places throughout The Way.
In the past, it was normal to start The Way from your house; the pilgrim’s
passport was given in your nearest parish.
In The Camino Primitivo (The Old Way), which starts in Oviedo, you can
get youpilgrim’s passport in three places:
- San Salvador Cathedral, in Oviedo
- San Juan el Real Church, which is located at the end of Covadonga Street
and at the beginning of Melquiades Álvarez Street
- Asociación Astur Leonesa de Amigos del Camino de Santiago
(It is an organisation created by people from Asturias and León who know
incredibly well The Way).
They run the pilgrim’s hostel in Oviedo and it is located in
Leopoldo Alas Street, Nº20. Telephone number: 985228525
- Oviedo Tourism Office
Telephone number: 984493563
Plaza de la Constitución, nº 4 - Oviedo - (En la plaza del Ayuntamiento).
The credential or Pilgrim’s Passport accredits you as a pilgrim; therefore, you
can have Access to public hostels. You must stamp your Passport in the
stop-off points.
They can be a public or private organisation like for example the hostels,
hotels, restaurants, cafés, post offices, police stations, associations related
to The Way or any church
Nowadays you will be asked to have two stamps per stage. Once you get to
Santiago de Compostela you will have to show all of them at the Pilgrim’s
Office in Santiago.
This way you will receive the official certificate called La Compostela
THE PILGRIM’S PASSPORT
or THE CREDENTIAL