Complete Guide to The Camino by Bike

The Aragonese Way is one of the two major historical gateways to the French Way in Spain, the southern branch that crossed the Pyrenees through the imposing Somport Pass. Its history is indissolubly linked to the birth of the Kingdom of Aragon and the flourishing of the first Romanesque art on the peninsula. It's a route of extraordinary landscape beauty and monumental density, offering an alpine and solitary alternative to the more crowded Roncesvalles pass.

Its origins date back to the Roman era. Somport Pass, the "Summus Portus" (the highest port) of the Romans, was one of the main routes connecting Gaul with Hispania. This pre-existing road was the foundation on which the faith of medieval pilgrims from Italy, southern France and Central Europe, who followed the Via Tolosana (Camino de Arles), laid their journey.

The peak and configuration of the Aragonese Way as a fundamental Jacobean route took place in the 11th century, parallel to the birth and consolidation of the Kingdom of Aragon. Kings such as Sancho III the Greater of Navarre (who also controlled Aragon) and above all his son Ramiro I and his grandson Sancho Ramírez saw in the Way an opportunity to strengthen their young kingdom, attract population and open up to European cultural currents. They promoted and protected the route decisively. Sancho Ramírez founded the city of Jaca as the first capital of the kingdom and converted it into a major center of services for the road. His Cathedral, San Pedro de Jaca, initiated around 1077, is one of the gems of Romanesque art and a pioneering building whose style, with the famous "jaqués" tache, spread throughout the entire Way.

The route was equipped with an impressive network of protection and hospitality. At the top of Somport stood the Hospital of Santa Cristina, one of the most important hospices in all Christendom, cited with admiration in the Codex Calixtino. Along the Aragon River valley, which gave its name to the Way, monasteries of immense power emerged. The most important is undoubtedly the Monastery of San Juan de la Peña. Considered the spiritual heart of the kingdom, its Royal Pantheon housed the remains of the first kings of Aragon and its Romanesque cloister, excavated under a massive rock, was an artwork unique in the world.

The Aragonese Way descends from the Pyrenean peaks, passing through Canfranc, Villanúa and its caves, to reach Jaca. From there, it continues westward, entering Navarre and passing through Sangüesa. Before reaching its end, the route passes alongside another gem of Romanesque art, the enigmatic Templar church of Santa María de Eunate, with its exterior cloister. The journey of the Aragonese Way as a separate entity ends in the village of Puente la Reina. There, at a point loaded with symbolism, its waters merge with those of the Navarro Way, which comes from Roncesvalles, to form the only and great French Way. The beauty of the Romanesque bridge in the village, built to facilitate the passage of pilgrims, is the crowning glory of this confluence.

Although over time the route through Roncesvalles became more popular, the Aragonese Way never lost its importance. Today it offers the modern pilgrim a more demanding and less crowded start to the French Way, a journey to the cradle of a kingdom and the origins of Spanish Romanesque art.