My way of Saint-Guilhem 
 

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During the health crisis linked to the coronavirus while waiting to be able to resume my way to Compostela where I had left it in Spain, I traveled in August 2021 the way to Saint-Guilhem in France.

It deserved  in my opinion a detour, given its history and geographical location. This path crosses vast and beautiful landscapes through the departments of Lozère, Gard andfrom Hérault. It was in the Middle Ages an important jacquary way thanks toSaint-Guilhem, Carolingian prince, first cousin of Charlemagne, who in his time wrote a page in the history of France.

In the year 790, Guilhem, grandson of Charles Martel had been named viceroy of Aquitaine. This was the starting point of his public life. He devoted the next thirteen years to strengthening the borders of the kingdom of Charlemagne. Much more than a simple administrator, Guilhem established himself as one of the most valiant warriors of his time.

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After having known a tormented secular existence, this former soldier withdrew into solitude in the year 806 to lead a monastic life. He founded in the year 804 theAbbey of Saint-Sauveur of Gellone, around which was built the pretty village ofSaint-Guilhem-le-Desert. 

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In his luggage he brought asacred manuscript (the Sacramentary of Gelone) containing dhe liturgical texts et a piece of the True Cross of Christ given to him by Charlemagne. These relics with virtuesmiracles attracted many pilgrims. 

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When he died in 812, the abbey of Gellone then became a high place of pilgrimage and a necessary passage to Santiago de Compostela. The Romieux, who went  to Rome also took this path. 

Around the year 1000, attendance at Gellone Abbey was at its peak. With the Hundred Years War and the Great Plague, the paths becoming much less sure, the flow of pilgrims gradually dried up.

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So I left to walk in the footsteps of Saint-Guilhem in August 2021. I made a small detour by taking the Tarn gorges variant. 

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buen camino :-) ✨ ⭐ Lionel de Compostelle 🦋

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