Pilgrim passport and pilgrim stamp
As in the Middle Ages, a pilgrim’s passport, in which individual stations are entered by a pilgrim’s stamp, still serves today as proof of the distance traveled. The pilgrimage certificate in Santiago de Compostela is ultimately only issued to those who can prove that they have traveled at least the last 100 km on foot or 200 km by bicycle or horse.
There is a stamp card specially designed for the project area for the routes of the Way of St. James pilgrims from Hornbach to Metz, which you can obtain free of charge from the Tourist Info in Saarbrücken Castle. In addition, the St. James Societies offer both an international and a regional pilgrim’s pass, which also covers the Starry Path/Chemin des étoiles project area.
Pilgrim stamps are available in many monasteries, churches, cathedrals and brotherhoods of St. James. As the local churches are temporarily closed, we advise you to ask the contact persons in advance and make an appointment. You can find the stamping stations within the project area on our interactive map. They are symbolized here by a red dot with a white “S”.
Many of the stamps have since been designed, mostly with the medieval reference. In Lorraine, for example, students from the UNESCO project school in Longeville-lès-St. Avold have also designed pilgrimage stamps.