Path of the Holy Cross

The Way of the Holy Cross is a reflection of the living and constantly evolving spirit of the Camino de Santiago in modern times. It is an itinerary of connection, a recently created route designed to link an important region of La Mancha with one of the major Jacobean routes that traverse the peninsula, the South East Route. Its history does not appear in medieval chronicles, but rather in the initiative and effort of associations of friends of the Camino del XXI century, who wanted to draw a path of faith and culture from their own land.

Although the route itself is new, the territory it covers is imbued with history. La Mancha, far from being a vacuum, was an important crossing point of roads since ancient times. Roman roads, real canals for transhumance, and the roads of powerful Military Orders of Santiago and Calatrava ran through its plains. It is therefore certain that, over the centuries, inhabitants of these lands made pilgrimages to holy destinations, including Santiago, using this pre-existing network of roads. The Modern Way of the Holy Cross comes to shape and signal one of these logical routes.

Its name, "of the Holy Cross", probably has a strong local devotion, possibly linked to some confraternity or hermitage dedicated to the True Cross, which serves as a spiritual anchor for this new itinerary. The starting point is the village of San Clemente, in the province of Cuenca, a locality that boasts an impressive historical-artistic ensemble of Renaissance style, declared a Cultural Interest Site.

From San Clemente, the path enters the landscape that La Mancha is famous for, immortalized by Miguel de Cervantes in "The Quixote". The pilgrim walks through a sea of vineyards and cereal fields, a vast and luminous horizon that invites introspection. The route passes through localities with great tradition, such as El Provencio or Las Pedroñeras, known internationally as the "capital of garlic". One of the most emblematic points on the journey is the arrival at Mota del Cuervo, where the pilgrim meets the iconic windmills that rise over a small hill, an image that inevitably evokes the adventures of the ingenious hidalgo.

The route ends its approximately 70-kilometer journey in Quintanar de la Orden, in the province of Toledo. This important village is the confluence point, the place where the Way of the Holy Cross fulfills its function as a tributary. Here, pilgrims join the trail of the South East Route, a long-distance route that starts in Alicante and heads northwest to link with the Via de la Plata. In this way, a pilgrim from San Clemente can, thanks to this connecting path, integrate into the great network of routes that lead to Santiago.

In conclusion, the Way of the Holy Cross is an example of how the Jacobean phenomenon revives itself from a local perspective, creating new traditions on a rich and cultural historical substrate. It is a short but intense journey through history, cuisine, and literary landscapes in the heart of La Mancha.