Saint Martin of Tours is one of the most familiar and recognisable Christian saints and has been venerated since the 4th century. He was the Bishop of Tours, whose shrine in Gaul/France was the target of a very important pilgrimage, the equivalent of that to Rome, during the Early Middle Ages, before becoming a famous stopping-point for pilgrims on the way to Compostela. For his entire life he tirelessly travelled around Europe, leaving a significant imprint on our collective memory.

Heritage

The Via Sancti Martini links many European towns which were part of the life of Saint Martin, as well as those with a significant architectural heritage of relevance to his veneration: thousands of monuments are dedicated to him, including fourteen cathedrals! These sites also have an intangible heritage that is still alive in the form of legends, traditions and folklore.

Travelling today

The traveller can follow the routes that relate to episodes of the saint's life, cult or folklore. This large set of routes, covering more than 5,000 km across and around Europe bears the general name of Via Sancti Martini. Of special note are the route linking Szombathely (Hungary), the place of his birth, to Tours (France), the place of his grave, via Pavia (Italy), the place of his childhood, and the route linking Tours, where he was a bishop, to Worms (Germany), where he left the Roman army and Trier (Germany), where he met the Roman emperor. However, this route also links a great number of cultural heritage sites through Austria and Slovakia, and also arriving in Szombathely. Other routes lead to Utrecht in the Netherlands, or to Zaragoza in Spain. Overall, the Saint Martin routes cover more than 12 European countries!