The pilgrim's gourd on the Camino de Santiago

More and more people are deciding to follow the Camino de Santiago and thereby become authentic pilgrims. The reasons for becoming a pilgrim are very varied and depend on the situation of each person. However, all those who already are, agree that the Camino de Santiago is an experience that many want to relive.

Some of the best-known recommendations for the Camino de Santiago are the necessary prior preparation and the preparation of a planning that allows us to know what we need to carry in our backpack, in order to have a much more comfortable and comfortable journey.

In addition to selecting the appropriate clothing and footwear, along with a good backpack that adapts to our body and has sufficient capacity, there are other elements that are very representative among pilgrims and can help when traveling the road to Santiago de Compostela, such as the canes of the Camino del Santiago.

Although the poles are very popular since they help pilgrims during their journey, there are other symbolic elements that we can also find and that, although they do not currently have the same function as they once did, are already symbols of the Camino de Santiago.

The Pilgrims Pumpkins?

The pilgrim's gourd is, along with the shell, the staff or the compostela, among others, one of the most symbolic objects on the Camino de Santiago. From the beginning of the path, pilgrims placed them on their poles to have water or wine available at all times and thus hydrate themselves during their journey.

No specific data is known as to why people started emptying the pilgrim's gourds and leaving them to dry to use as a container to store water. However, its frequent use made this pumpkin one of the symbols of the Camino de Santiago. What is known is that in different countries in Europe pilgrim's pumpkins were dried, in addition to other types of pumpkins, to create cheap kitchen utensils.

This type of pumpkin is already considered a pilgrim's pumpkin, because it was so frequent to see pilgrims with the pumpkins hanging from their belts or from the cane they were carrying. These pumpkins have a fairly smooth surface and are characterized by having the upper part narrower than the lower part, which makes it easier to tie it with a rope.

How to decorate the pilgrims pumpkins ?

Years ago, people who walked the Camino had to empty the pilgrim's gourd and leave the interior to dry in the open air so that later they could add liquid and use them as containers. Currently, there are already bottles and canteens with the same function, however many want to carry this element so typical of the Camino. Along all the Jacobean routes, such as the French Way or the English Way, we can find different stalls with pilgrim pumpkins to buy dry and ready.

Although the appearance of pilgrim gourds is generally orange in color, many pilgrims decorate and personalize them according to their tastes. Along the way we can find all kinds of decorated pilgrim's gourds, some paint them with colors or personalize them with stickers, while others perforate them to create different silhouettes on their surface. Obviously there are no rules that say how to paint the pilgrim's pumpkins, each one can let their imagination run wild and create designs that go according to their tastes and their own style.

The best images of pilgrims pumpkins ?