The Portuguese Ways to Santiago de Compostela - Holistic Fragments of Patrimonialization

Abstract

This article is a synthesis of the research carried out in the PhD degree in Social Anthropology and Culture, carried out between 2013 and 2017, at the University of Coimbra / Portugal, with the object of study / research, the Portuguese Pathways to Santiago de Compostela, the second largest route of Jacobean pilgrimage, a growing route that attracts tens of thousands of pilgrims every year, and which is in the process of being recognized as a Portuguese National Patrimony and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In this sense, we seek with this article to outline a holistic view of the (re) construction of culture and heritage, in this dynamic of patrimonialization of the Portuguese Ways to Santiago de Compostela, in a synchronic register of the perception, relation and action towards this patrimony by the communities where it is inserted, the actions of the organizations involved and also the motivations, visions and interpretation of the people who perform this route of pilgrimage, record of the entire pilgrimage route, places frequented and other activities commonly performed by the people who make the route Medieval of the Portuguese Ways to Santiago de Compostela.