It’s rare for anyone to hike the old pilgrim trail from the Low Countries to Santiago de Compostela. But the 10th-century route is still marked out in many places with small gilded scallop shells set into the pavement.
You can find about 50 shells in Brussels indicating the route that crossed the city in the Middle Ages, from the Porte de Louvain in the north to the Porte de Hal on the southern edge of the old town.
The pilgrims followed a route that took them past local churches and a hostel where they could spend a night. The trail leads through the Saint Jacques district where the Eglise Notre-Dame de Bon Secours is dedicated to St James of Compostella.
The route ends up at the Porte de Hal where a strange stone menhir called ‘Pilgrim’ stands next to the city gate. It was placed here in 1999 by the Galician contemporary sculptor Manolo Paz as a memorial to pilgrims.
From here the route heads south towards Santiago. But it’s 2200km of hard walking to get there.
Derek Blyth’s hidden secret of the day: Derek Blyth is the author of the bestselling “The 500 Hidden Secrets of Belgium”. He picks out one of his favourite hidden secrets for The Brussels Times every day.
