19.10.2022
Photo exhibition: Camino de Santiago
Yesterday in the gallery “St. Nikola Tavelić” was opened photo exhibition “Camino de Santiago”. The author of the photos is Ivica Bota (67), a retired civil engineer. He lives with his family in Split. He made a pilgrimage to the tomb of the apostle James in the Santiago de Compostela and walked almost 900 km.
Pilgrimage of St. James is over 1,100 years old, and it starts from various directions that have developed over the centuries. Ivica walked the French road that starts from the small town of Saint Jean Pied de Port in France, crosses the Pyrenees into Spain and leads through Navarre, Burgos and Leon to Galicia, to Santiago de Compostela. He also continued to the beach in Finisterre, where he traditionally ends his pilgrimage by finding his scallop, a shell that, according to legend, was named after to St. James. That French way of St. James was declared the “Main Street of Europe” by the Council of Europe in 1987, and UNESCO declared it a world cultural heritage in 1993.
Ivica Bota recorded impressions and photographed interesting details on his journey. After exhibitions in several Croatian cities, he translated his small observations and personal experiences into the book “With a Friend on the Way of St. James”, in which he simply and authentically talks about the experiences, inspirations, encounters and discoveries of pilgrims on the Way of St. James.
The exhibition presents 40 photographs from the Way of St. James since Ivica Bota walked that Path for 40 days respecting everything that is mentioned in the Bible under the number 40. His photos follow the Path. The first 20 photos show a day on the Way, from the long morning shadow when the pilgrim sets out on the Way, the landscape, the walk and rest to the shared dinner with other pilgrims. The other 20 photos are a selection of interesting and significant places until the arrival in Santiago and the end of the Way in Finisterra. The photos give a visual representation of the events of the Way, and the short texts accompanying the photos give the visitor the possibility of a direct insight into the course of life on the Way.
The exhibition is part of the “Camino Šibenik week” program as part of the opening of a new section of the Croatian Camino – Camino Šibenik. The Camino Šibenik week is organized by the Brotherhood of St. James in cooperation with the Tourist Board of the city of Šibenik, the Tourist Board of Marina, the Tourist Board of Primošten and the Tourist Board of Vodice.
The exhibition remains open until the end of the month, and admission is free.
