Camino Photo of the Day: Remembrance

These sorts of cairns may be found everywhere on the Camino. Usually, they’re a small pile of stones. Traditionally, hiking cairns are a navigation aid, a way of marking the correct way on a not-so-well-defined trail. On the Camino, which is typically well-marked, they usually serve a different purpose. There’s a small cairn, and pilgrims will leave a new stone to mark their passing. Sometimes, as here or more spectacularly at Cruz de Ferro in Spain, they represent a prayer or a burden left behind.

This particular cairn is most likely in remembrance of a deceased loved one or in thanksgiving for a prayer answered. I’ve seen both of these indicated by the French word “souvenir”, which we can see here, and which literally means “remembrance”.

Date: 31 August 2023
Place: between Lacapelle-Marival and Gramat, Lot Département, Region of Occitanie, France

Maps!

The site I’ve been using for my daily maps, Gronze.com, while otherwise great, unfortunately doesn’t have maps for this variant. So here’s a map from my book Practical Pilgrimage showing the entirety of the three main variants and larger sub-variants. I walked the GR6 from Figeac to Rocamadour and the GR46 on to Cahors.