What is Huellas de Teresa?
To commemorate the 5th centenary of the birth of St Teresa, which is to be held in the city of Ávila in 2015, the Teresian cities have joined together under the name of Huellas de Teresa de Jesús (The Trail of St Teresa of Jesus), an idea based on culture and heritage, to announce the work and legacy of the so-declared Doctor of the Church through the dissemination of the many convents she founded.
St Teresa left her trail in fourteen places. Her journey began in 1567 and lasted 20 years and her travels took her to Ávila, Medina del Campo, Malagón, Valladolid, Toledo, Pastrana, Salamanca, Alba de Tormes, Segovia, Beas de Segura, Seville, Caravaca de la Cruz, Villanueva de la Jara, Palencia, Soria, Granada and Burgos.
Huellas de Teresa takes the form of a tourist or pilgrimage route that uncovers the architectural, literary and spiritual legacy of this humanistic saint, traveller and woman before her time.
GET YOUR CREDENTIAL
You need your Huellas de Teresa credential if you want to achieve the distinction of pilgrim. It will be stamped at the tourist offices in each place you visit and, to obtain the distinction, you need to present stamps from 4 towns/cities in at least two different autonomous communities and, finally, in Ávila, the place where Teresa was born and where you will be given your distinction.
The document can be collected at the municipal tourist offices of the town/cities of Teresa or you can download it from this section of the website.
CHOOSE A ROUTE
The routes are based on pilgrimage, tourism, culture and heritage and each person chooses their own reasons for following them.
There are fourteen towns/cities in which Teresa left her Huella (trail) in the form of foundations. There is no particular order for completing the routes and no time limit; each pilgrim or tourist can follow the route as they want and take the time they consider necessary.
The basic requirement for obtaining the credential of pilgrim is to have visited 4 of the towns/cities in at least two different autonomous communities and Ávila, the place where St Teresa was born and where the credential will be awarded.
COLLECT YOUR DISTINCTION
After you have presented your credential and it has been stamped at 4 towns/cities on the route, visiting at least two different autonomous communities on the way, head for Ávila, which is where Teresa was born, and visit the pilgrimage office to collect your distinction.
