Published: 01 Mar 2022 1st edition 280 pages In 1522 Ignatius of Loyola made a
pilgrimage from his home in Spain's Basque Country to Montserrat and Manresa.
This new guide from Bradt provides all the information needed to follow in his
footsteps in a neat, easy-to-carry portable format, including an essential mix
of practicalities, such as when to go, where to stay along the route, national
parks and public transport, and a detailed breakdown of the route's 27 stages.
Start and finish points, level of difficulty, duration, distance, ascent and
descent, and route descriptions are all included, as well as elevation charts,
maps and what to see along the way. This is a unique secular walking guide to a
religious-themed walk which takes intrepid hikers from the imposing tower-house
and sanctuary of Loyola in the Basque Country, up through the stunning Basque
mountains and down to the beautiful town of Laguardia with its myriad wine
caves. Through the vineyards of Alava and world-famous La Rioja, the trail
visits lively Logrono and follows the River Ebro eastwards, through the
lesser-visited cities of Zaragoza and Lleida. Navarre and Aragon autonomous
communities are covered, then on to powerful, independent-minded Catalonia,
allowing walkers to connect with a region of Spain less-visited than the
sparkling costas or the huge conurbations of Madrid or Barcelona. For its
grandstand finish, the route returns to Montserrat and then Manresa, where
Ignatius lived for months in the spartan surroundings of a cave to write his
seminal work, the Spiritual Exercises. Having had their pilgrim passports
stamped along the way, walkers are rewarded with a certificate to demonstrate
their resilience in completing the route.