Via Lusitana launches website on the Lisboa-Santarém section

The Via Lusitana Pilgrims Association launched, on December 10, a new website dedicated to the section of the Camino de Santiago in the Lisboa region, between the Capital and Santarém. This is the final part of the Portuguese Camino de Santiago – Central Route that has not yet been certified. With the remaining sections, from Santarém to Valença, already certified and each supported by their own websites providing information on the routes, this new platform fills the gap in dedicated information for this part of the Camino.

This project is part of a broader collaboration between Via Lusitana and the Centro Nacional de Cultura (National Center for Culture). Although Via Lusitana will not assume responsibility for managing the Lisboa-Santarém section of the Camino, the association has been actively involved in the certification process and has therefore taken on the development of the website, which brings together in a single digital space information on the route that had until now been dispersed.

The website, available in Portuguese and English at viasantiago.pt, organizes information by stages to facilitate consultation along the Camino. It includes interactive maps that allow users to identify accommodations and access pages with detailed information on heritage, rest areas and services, as well as other useful content. José Luis Sanches, from the Via Lusitana Board, said he was very pleased with the result: “It was a very demanding project, and I would like to highlight the contribution of our designer, Susana Santa-Clara, whose work made it possible to create an intuitive, well-structured and still visually appealing website.”

The Central Route is managed by several entities along its length, starting in Lisboa and also further south, along a route that currently begins in Ameixial and is intended to start in Faro. As a result, information about the Camino has developed in an autonomous and fragmented way. According to José Luis Sanches, a future goal is to expand this website to other sections of the Camino, such as Santarém-Coimbra, Coimbra-Porto and Porto-Valença, using a single and coherent format that brings together information useful to pilgrims, covering both practical and cultural aspects.