Landscape and Senses in a Portuguese Municipality on the Way of St. James: Potential Impacts on the Well-Being of Pilgrims

Abstract

The Portuguese Way of St. James is traveled by people seeking well-being, self-therapy, or answers to their personal and religious/spiritual issues. The evaluation of the landscape and its senses and how these may contribute to the well-being of pilgrims are subjects that have been little explored. This research was carried out to understand how the landscape can influence someone’s well-being and the senses it awakens. The municipality of Barcelos was the one chosen as representative territory to apply a new method, which includes a participant observation together with the visual documentation of 310 photographs of its main elements and the analysis of a grid of 22 variables. The main result from this method points out the relevance of diversified landscapes with a remarkable variation in colors and sounds. Some gaps in this method were also identified, including the need for improvements by local authorities to contribute to maximized health outcomes.

The Pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago and Its Impacts on Marital and Familial Relationships: An Exploratory Study

“…Our experience as pilgrims, as well as our research, confirms that pilgrimage—especially this walking pilgrimage–is hugely beneficial for mental health and promotes emotional, spiritual, intellectual, social and physical well-being (Eade, 2000 ; Faria et al, 2022 ; Jørgensen et al, 2020 ; Klimiuk & Moriarty, 2021 ; Mikaelsson, 2012 ). This well-being, in turn, improves the pilgrim’s relationship with loved ones—spouse, children or friends—during the pilgrimage, and, perhaps most importantly, when the pilgrim returns home to everyday responsibilities with recharged spiritual and psychophysical batteries (Vidal-González & Sánchez, 2019 ).…”

“…Pilgrimage—both individual and collective—is a highly sensory experience, because both on the way to the holy place—in the pilgrimage space—and within the sanctuary space, pilgrims process visual, auditory and tactile stimuli, observing and participating in a variety of rituals and acts of worship (Faria et al, 2022 ; Sigala, 2020 ). Agapito et al ( 2013 ) believe that a multidisciplinary approach to the human senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch), demonstrates their importance for individual experience and perception of space.…”