Ukraine

Manifesto of the European Federation of Saint James Way (Camino de Santiago) in support of the Camino Podolico route in Ukraine and the struggle of the Ukrainian people for their sovereignty, freedom, and democracy

The Camino de Santiago, Europe’s first cultural itinerary, is a network of more than 80,000 km of land routes crossing 29 European countries and 30,000 nautical miles of sea routes which have united the peoples of Europe for more than 1,200 years, promoted the exchange of knowledge, and consolidated a culture of harmony, understanding, and relationships among people who have helped generate the European civilizing process since the Middle Ages.

Today, the Camino de Santiago offers an experience open to universal knowledge and enjoyment for citizens from more than 180 nations who, year after year, travel the Camino de Santiago routes. The Camino de Santiago has endured all the vicissitudes of our continent’s history. It has undergone our wars and has allowed Europeans and citizens around the world to enjoy our periods of peace.

One of the routes included in the pilgrimage itineraries, Camino Podolico in Ukraine, is immersed in a war unwanted by the Ukrainian people and is suffering, like the rest of the country, the consequences of an unjustified and criminal aggression that violates the principles governing civilized relations between countries.

It is essential that the Federation that operates the Camino de Santiago before the Council of Europe—and that, precisely for this reason, defends a Europe based on the rule of law, democracy, respect for human rights, and the right to integral sovereignty of nations— takes a stand against the Russian Federation’s aggression against the people of Ukraine, their culture, heritage and institutions.

The Federation advocates for an end to Russian aggression against Ukraine, respect for its territorial sovereignty, and the sovereignty of the Ukrainian people to define their own future and their relations with other European nations.

A democratic Europe, respectful of human rights, a Europe that seeks relations of cooperation, free exchange, and respect for all the peoples that make up this continent, cannot tolerate this intolerable assault on our civilization, which takes us back to the darkest periods of contemporary history.

Our Federation cannot remain indifferent to this demand for a Europe at peace, whose countries embrace the principles that have guaranteed the most peaceful period in our common history.

We therefore wish to express our full solidarity with our Ukrainian colleagues in the European Federation of Saint James Way and place ourselves at their disposal to defend, within our sphere of action, the right of the people of Ukraine to define their future as a fully sovereign country, with territorial integrity and the freedom to decide the relations they wish to establish with the rest of Europe and the world.

At the moment, the Camino Podolico with the starting point in Vinnytsia (4625 km to Santiago de Compostela) is the most significant and important pilgrimage route, because its continued existence means that Europe continues to walk the paths of freedom, democracy, and respect for the men and women who build this continent every day.

On the 3rd of July, 2025, in Toulouse

Ildefonso de la Campa Montenegro

President of the European Federation of Saint James Way

Activities along the Saint James Way, including the project The Way must go on created with the support of the Council of Europe and the European Commission, were presented at the annual online meeting of the coordinators of the European Heritage Days.

This two-day event brought together national coordinators and heritage specialists from a number of European countries: Great Britain, Spain, Italy, Norway, Poland, Romania, Ukraine, Finland and France. The main topic was the results of this year’s theme “Heritage of Routes, Networks and Connections. National coordinator Estrella Martí­n (Spain) praised the events held through the Jacobean network as a successful example of integration of European Heritage Days into the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe.

The Saint James Way was represented during the meeting by Oleksandr Vesheleni, Director of the Department of City Marketing and Tourism of Vinnytsia City Council and Technical Assistant to the Vice President-elect of the European Federation of St. James Way.

He shared the experience of the European Federation of Saint James Way in holding European Heritage Days along the cultural route. In addition to that, he spoke about the grant that the Ukrainian member of the Federation (Vinnytsia City Council) won in 2023 from the Council of Europe and the European Commission as part of the European Heritage Days Stories competition, which made it possible to implement the project The Way must go on and restore the Camino Podolico, put on hold in 2022 due to the Russian aggression against Ukraine. As a result, the gastronomic heritage of Podillya region was researched, a gastronomic catalog of the route and a series of video reports were published, and the communities of the route joined the European Heritage Days for the first time receiving an incentive to develop, work with tourists and pilgrims, build basic infrastructure, and most importantly, preserve and develop local heritage.

Read more about this at the link.

Thanks to the grant support of the Council of Europe and the European Commission, we were able to visit each of the communities on the route, to see how they are overcoming the consequences of the full-scale war and how they continue to preserve their heritage especially intangible, because it directly depends on its carriers, the originators, who can pass on traditions to future generations, Oleksandr Vesheleni noted in his presentation. The topic of EHD-2023 “Living heritage” and immersion in the local gastronomic heritage was the best way to stimulate them not only to host European Heritage Days for the first time, but also to prepare for the resumption of the pilgrimage on Camino Podolico. As a result, in 2024, more than 300 people from all over Ukraine (except for the temporarily occupied regions) walked the route.

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The European Heritage Days (EHD), a joint initiative of the Council of Europe and the European Commission, are cultural events organized by different European countries to raise awareness of heritage, both tangible and intangible. European Heritage Days develop and strengthen people’s sense of belonging and responsibility for heritage, emphasizing the relevance of human rights and democracy.

The newly created Association of Friends of Saint James Way in Ukraine was officially launched in Vinnytsia on 25 October 2024, marking a significant milestone in the development of pilgrimage routes in the country.

Key Points of the New Association:

• Founded in October 2024 in Vinnytsia, with plans to expand throughout Ukraine.
• Led by local activists of the Podolic Way, including Vladyslav Pidhaiets from the community of Severynivka.
• Signed a protocol of accession to the Memorandum of Cooperation for the development and promotion of the pilgrimage route.

Main Objectives:

• To promote the knowledge of the Way of St. James in Ukraine.
• To develop information centres and a network of local coordinators.
• Collaborate with European associations and local communities.
• Encourage rural tourism and infrastructure for pilgrims.

Future plans:

The Association will focus on pilgrim support and infrastructure development by 2025. This includes route signage and promotion among local residents and pilgrims.

International Cooperation:

During the event, representatives of European associations of Saint James Way shared their experiences, showing interest in collaborating with Ukraine.

How to Participate:

Those interested in joining the Association can contact by email at camino.friends.ukraine<@>gmail.com. Facebook and Instagram pages have also been launched to keep the community informed.

This initiative represents an important step in the integration of Ukraine into the network of European cultural routes, promoting sustainable tourism and the preservation of cultural heritage.

Read the full story on the Camino Podolico website

The official season of the Saint James Way of Podillya (Camino Podolico) in Ukraine began on April 25. Pilgrims has already started walking and cycling the route, which has not officially functioned since 2022 due to Russian aggression.

Camino Podolico is a cultural and pilgrimage route from Vinnytsia to Kamianets-Podilskyi through the town of Bar, modeled after the Saint James Ways, which pass through the whole Europe. The route was launched in test mode thanks to the support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation in 2021 and become a member of the European Federation of Saint James Way in June 2023.

Due to the full-scale war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, the organizers were unable to open the official season, which was supposed to start in the spring of 2022, and postponed the launch indefinitely. The main reason was the large number of shellings and the overcrowding of temporary residences with internally displaced persons. But despite all the warnings, several dozens of people during these two years still went on hiking and cycling trips, getting to know the beauty and hospitality of Podillya. Organizers constantly received requests from those willing to walk the route, in particular, from veterans and family members of the military servicemen.

«Since the end of last year, we have been preparing for the full functioning of the route with all the necessary information support and infrastructure. Together with all the coordinators from the communities of the Camino Podolico Way we have managed to start the season from April 25, as it was originally intended. After all, a lot of people write to us that they plan to spend a vacation on the route as a small retreat for psychological recovery in war conditions», – says the director of the Department of City Marketing and Tourism of Vinnytsia City Council Oleksandr Vesheleni.

On the website www.caminopodolico.net, in the Route section, information about places where one can eat and stay for the night has already been updated: apartments, hotels, hostels, rural houses, etc. The organizers emphasize that accommodation must be booked in advance at all stops and a reserve should be sought in case of full occupancy of one or another establishment. Staying outdoors at night is prohibited due to curfew from midnight till 5:00 AM.

As for security issues, some general recommendations for the safety of pilgrims as well as the list of all the shelters in communities are available on the Camino Podolico website. The recommendations include: always have ID and pilgrim’s passport during walking; do not come close to or and take pictures of the regime facilities (such as air defence systems, hydroelectric power plants etc.); use the “Air alert” app to know if there’s any threats in the region; if there is an air raid – move to shelters and stay away from the glass.

Despite the difficulties, the Camino Podolico route has been successfully launched on April 25, and during the first month 26 people have already passed the route. In addition to that, this year Camino Podolico team is working on alternative branches and some continuations which will connect the route with other countries and marked sequences. A special highlight of this year is the route leading to the only functioning church and spring of St. James in Podillya region, which is located approximately 30 kilometres from Kamianets-Podilskyi in the village of Panivtsi of Ternopil oblast. On April 27-28 a first group consisting of 15 people walked along this part of the route and visited the villages of Zavallia, Panivtsi, Rykhta and Zhvanets. The participants found out some interesting facts about the history of each community and also visited a unique cave “Atlantis” in Zavallia. The highlight of the trip was a visit to the Sunday holiday service in the Church of St. James in Panivtsi village, as well as the conversation with the abbot of the church – father Ihor, who has been serving there for more than 30 years.

This part of the route is currently being organized, and soon the official website www.caminopodolico.net will have detailed information on how to plan the new section of the Camino Podolico on foot or by bike.

Check out the image gallery of the Camino Podolico!