Paths to Guadalupe

Queen Isabella the Catholic, with 16 documented visits to the monastery located in Las Villuercas, is one of the most famous pilgrims to the Virgin of Guadalupe, forming part of a list which includes historical characters like Christopher Columbus, Hernán Cortés, Emperor Charles V, Saint Peter of Alcántara, Saint Teresa of Jesus, San Francisco de Borja, Miguel de Cervantes, Francisco de Zurbarán, Luis de Góngora and Miguel de Unamuno, among others.

The origin of the pilgrimages goes back to the beginning of the 14th century. Legend has it that the Virgin appeared to a cowherd called Gil Cordero somewhere near the Guadalupe River while he was looking for a lost cow. On finding it dead, and when he was about to skin it, the animal stood up. The Virgin told Gil to dig there, where the villagers and priests would find a valuable 1^st-century statue of her, documents which would prove it had been sculpted by the apostle Luke and buried by clergy from Seville, and other relics.

Aware of this story, 1337 King Alfonso XI of Castile and Leon built on the same site, where a humble chapel had stood, a sanctuary that over the years would become the second destination of pilgrimage in Spain, after Santiago de Compostela, and one of the most impressive monuments of the country.

Since then, thousands of pilgrims have come to Las Villuercas to worship Our Lady of Guadalupe, patron saint of Extremadura, Mexico, Latin America and the Philippines.

Recently major restoration and dissemination of Guadalupe routes have been carried out, for example the interterritorial project 'Itinere 1337', which has achieved the recovery of 12 historical pilgrimage paths and the creation of the network Red de Caminos a Guadalupe, which are:

• Camino Real (from Madrid, including the branch Titulcia-Aranjuez-Toledo).
• Camino de los Montes de Toledo (from the city of Toledo).
• Camino de la Jara (from Calera and Chozas, Toledo).
• Camino de Cabañeros (from Alcoba de los Montes, Ciudad Real).
• Camino de Levante (from Saceruela, Ciudad Real).
• Camino de los Mineros (from Almadén, Ciudad Real).
• Camino Mozárabe (from Monterrubio de la Serena, Badajoz).
• Camino Romano (from Mérida).
• Camino Visigodo (from the Via de la Plata, at Alcuéscar, Cáceres).
• Camino de los Descubridores (from Cáceres and Trujillo).
• Camino de Monfragüe (from Plasencia).
• Camino de los Jerónimos (from Yuste Monastery, Cáceres).

The pilgrim arriving at Guadalupe, in addition to visiting its magnificent monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993, must stroll through the narrow streets and squares of this town, a member of the Most Beautiful Towns in Spain Association.

It is also advisable to explore the landscapes and villages of the Villuercas Ibores Jara Geopark, of which Guadalupe is a part, boasting great geological heritage, dominated by a vast mountain range (2,544 km2) with more than 40 geo-sites of unquestionable value for their paleontological wealth, folds and faults, erosive and sedimentary shapes, as well as its mining past.

More information: http://caminosaguadalupe.com