The ‘Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe’ recognized the route of Saint Olav in May 2010

In the Middle Ages Saint Olav was a popular saint in the Nordic countries; there are therefore many historical monuments, but also many routes up to Trondheim. The paths of Saint Olav lead to Nidaros (the former name of Trondheim) and his cathedral, which is the sanctuary to the Norwegian patron, Saint Olav.

This route conveys a willingness to create a closer collaboration via a process of pilgrimages, between the three countries which have been linked in various ways during the thousand years (since the martyr of Saint Olav to current day) and to allow, thanks to the European cultural route, a bigger awareness and understanding of Nordic countries.

The Scandinavian king, Olav Haralsson (Saint Olav) was born in the south of Norway in 995 and became a martyr at Stiklestad (near to Trondheim) on the 29th July 1030.

Throughout his life, he occupied an important political place at a European level by working in alliance with the counts of Normandy and the Kings of England, but also with his brother-in-law, the Russian prince, Jaroslay. The idea was that Olav was going to join Norway into a Christian kingdom, which started the battle of Stiklestad where he was killed. One year later, he was declares a saint by the bishop Grimkjell and so the pilgrims started going to his sanctuary straight away.

And so numerous churches, chapels and altars are dedicated to Saint Olav throughout Europe.

During the second half of the twentieth century, the pilgrimage tradition had resumed. Directions to the site were made available, and the maintenance of all these historical paths leads to Nidaros.

As historical and conceptual work is in progress and they are developing it on the basis of the idea of putting a basic display of the pilgrimage such as an average-sized inter-religious and intercultural article. The different aspects of the pilgrimage and the heritage of Saint Olav will engage numerous universities, but also professionals and volunteers, as well as, in a sense, setting up a tourist hub.

The particular story of Saint Olav (notably on the themes of women’s rights, the sacredness of life as well as setting up a democratic structure linked to the nation: Le Ting) and because the Law of Saint Olav is always the basis of current affairs (with subjects or theses like: holiday adventures and pilgrimage, the debate on pilgrims versus tourists, the religious travel aspect, folklore, history, archaeology…)

Towards the end of the 1990s, the route of Oslo, which passes through the valley Gudbrand and the Swedish route, arriving via Stiklestad, has a total distance of 930km, and has been developed.

The Norwegian minister of the environment and the administrators of the countries implicated, including local administrators, the church, associations and a large number of volunteers, took the initiative at a governmental level. The prince of Norway opened the official route in July 1997.

Currently, around 2000km of pilgrimage routes have been signposted in Norway.

In Denmark, interest in pilgrimages came much later. Viborg, the centre for pilgrims opened in 2004 in collaboration with the northern region and Moyen-Jylland. The hiking and pilgrimage path, Route de l’Armée (Haerveien) is signposted for the whole 250km.

Countries included: Norway, Sweden, Denmark