Walk as a Pilgrim in Solidarity for Ukraine

Today, the Camino Ukraine de Santiago is not cleared or possible to walk - and it is also not recommended to travel to Ukraine.

What we want to encourage all of you is to do a solidarity walk for Ukraine locally where you live. A solidarity walk involves walking a distance and paying attention to the situation in Ukraine in thoughts, prayers or conversations with others.

The Camino Ukraine de Santiago follows the old Medieval European road Via Regia. On the Facebook group «Camino de Santiago in Ukraine» the following is written about the trail:

«Camino de Santiago, or the Way of St. James, doesn’t start in the Pyrenees or even Paris. Historically, Kyiv was considered the most easterly point of this route. It is Kyiv which became a starting point of Via Regia – the Royal Highway, the main route of the Medieval Europe» (https://www.facebook.com/Camin...)

During 2022, Ukraine became part of the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe in Ukraine and on their website you can find this information:

«Via Regia is the name of the oldest and longest land connection between Eastern and Western Europe. Its length is 4500 km. It has existed for over 2000 years and connects 8 European states» (https://www.via-regia.org/ukr/...).

This is how you plan a Pilgrim Walk in Solidarity for Ukraine

Choose one or more of the distances on Camino Ukraine de Santiago and walk the same distance where you live. You can go together in a group or as an individual.

After the pilgrim walk you can register the distance you have walked and how many walked it on Pilegrim Center Oslo's website. We add the kilometers so that each person's walk counts (e.g. if 10 people have walked 25 km, you will be registered as 10 people who have walked a total of 250 km). We continuously add all the distances on the website so that it shows how many kilometers we have walked as a community in solidarity.

OBS! If you plan to walk all 531 km then let us know after the walk and we will have the full distance registered.

Pilgrim walk are for all people. Therefore, if you are leading a group, you are encouraged to also create walks with a universal design and adapted distance so that everyone has the opportunity to participate. A pilgrim walk is perfectly fine to do with a wheelchair, a, mobility crane, etc.

Tip for those walking with small children: Plan the walk so that the kilometers are converted into meters, e.g. 25 km = 2,5 km. This makes it possible to walk the entire Camino Ukraine de Santiago with small children as well (for example, if you walked 53.1 km over a period of time, this will be registered as the child having walked the entire Camino Ukraine trail).

If you are in Norway you do not have to follow the trail that is marked with the official Pilgrim Mark. All pilgrim walks counts.

The most known places in the distance list are Kyiv, Bucha and Lviv and we have all been able to follow the news about how the war has affected the places. The most affected by the war is Bucha.

Tip: Look for information about the towns and villages in reference books or on the Internet before you go.

Distances on the Camino Ukraine de Santiago

1. Kyiv – Bucha. 25 km
2. Bucha – Borodyanka. 24 km
3. Borodyanka – Piskivka. 27 km
4. Piskivka – Radomyshl. 24 km
5. Radomyshl – Korostyshiv. 27 km
6. Korostyshiv – Zhytomyr. 27 km
7. Zhytomyr – Bolyarka. 24 km
8. Bolyarka – Kurne. 25 km
9. Kurne – Zviahel. 34 km
10. Zviahel – Korets. 31 km
11. Korets – Braniv. 21 km
12. Braniv – The Baby. 23 km
13. The baby – Rivne. 21 km
14. Rivne – Varkovychi. 23 km
15. Varkovychi – Dubno. 19 km
16. Dubno – Verba. 20 km
17. Verba – Radyvyliv. 29 km
18. Radyvyliv – Yaseniv. 25 km
19. Yaseniv – Yangelivka. 20 km
20. Yangelivka – Neslukhiv. 24 km
21. Neslukhiv – Mali Pidlisky. 23 km
22. Mali Pidlisky – Lviv. 15 km

Total: 531 km

(We received information about Camino Ukraine de Santiago and it's distances from Maksym Bespalov from Ukraine. Maksym is a pilgrim himself and has just launched a book about the Camino de Santiago in Spain.)

Registration

When you have finished your pilgrim walk, please, send an e-mail to the Pilegrim Center in Oslo

oslo@pilegrimssenter.no

The information we need:

1) How many people joined the pilgrim walk?
2) How many kilometers did you walk?
3) Have you walked the whole trail of 531 km?
4) If you have been walking together with a group, such as a congregations, feel free to include the name of the group (if you want).

Registered kilometers in solidarity

June
112 km
720 km
80 km

Total antall km i juni: 912 km

Mai, 2023

320 km
304 km
204 km

Total km in Mai: 859 km

April, 2023
140 km
70 km
240 km

Total km in April: 450 km