STONEMASONS MARK THE PILGRIM PATH

As a part of their practical classes 37 students from a stonemasonry school in Schrems (Austria) made 26 stones with the marks of St. James’ Way.

This is the oldest pilgrim path in the world and it is used by pilgrims from the whole Europe who want to reach Santiago de Compostela in Spain. The opening of the 162-kilometre-long part of the path, which was marked by the stonemasons, took place on Easter Monday.
In each stone, whose weight amounted from 60 to 80 kilograms, the 2nd and 3rd-class students carved St. James’ shells – a widely known symbol of the path. The stones, provided by the Austrian stone companies, also underwent a various surface processing. In late March the stones were handed to the authorities of the Lower Austria (a state in Northern Austria) who thanked the students and the management of the school for the commitment and positive promotion of Austrian stone industry.
The reconstruction of the path which started in 1986 is still in progress in many countries. Then number of pilgrims is higher and higher every year. In 1970 there were only 68 of them whilst in 2009 more than 145,000. This path was the first to be awarded the title of the European Cultural Route in October 1987 and was also named one of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites in 1993.

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