(source: Sme - Ján Krošlák)
IN ČERMEĽ, a district in the city of Košice, the first Jacobean route in Slovakia has been opened. Prešov Bishop Milan Lach, who accepted the spiritual patronage over the project, blessed the route at its opening on the weekend of November 16 and 17.
The opening programme included the performance of Kaschauer Klezmer Band and the stories of young people who completed, at least partially, the 500-kilomtre long pilgrimage to the Spanish site Compostela.
The Slovak Jacobean Route starts in Košice and continues through Kojšovská Hoľa, Gelnica-Thurzov and Plejsy, all the way to Spiš Castle and Levoča. Along the way, pilgrims collect stamps from the sites they visited on their pilgrims’s pass, called a credencial, which can be purchased on the pilgrimage (e.g. in the St Elizabeth Cathedral in Košice) as well as through the website jakubskacesta.eu.
The Jacobean Route from Košice to Levoča is 3,131 kilometres away from the Santiago de Compostela, and is the eastern-most place in Europe from which pilgrims can embark on the journey on foot, horseback or a bicycle.
The European Capital of Culture Košice 2013 joined the European Jacobean Route with the first Slovak route.
The growing popularity of pilgrimages in Europe stems from the Jacobean pilgrimage to Spanish site Santiago de Compostela. Jacobean routes are presented with their own logo, infrastructure, services and support.
