Sunday, August 15, 2010

Walking the Templar Trail to Jerusalem


Two modern-day pilgrims are setting out to follow the trail from Wales to the Holy Land on foot. From the BBC article Cardiff 'troubabours' on 'Templar trail' to Jerusalem:

Two musicians aim to spend up to a year walking the 13th Century route to Jerusalem used by medieval pilgrims.

New Zealanders David Delia, 21, and Max Evenbly, 20, say they want to be modern-day troubadours on the 3,600-miles (5,800km) to Temple Mount.

They leave on Sunday, the 914th anniversary of the first crusade, but insist their mission is non-religious.

The Cardiff-based pair said: "After 65 years of European peace, it is time for this path to be walked again."

The first crusade had the aim of reclaiming Jerusalem and holy sites for the Christian church following an appeal in France by the Pope.

The friends aim to visit 13 countries on the "templar trail", the route to Jerusalem which the Knights Templar were charged with protecting.


Follow their trip at http://www.kiwiknights.com/

2 comments:

Gordon Napier said...

One of my former university lecturers, Thomas Asbridge, did something similar, walking to Jerusalem (presumably he got a boat across the English Channel first). The biggest hurdle was the Israeli border, apparently, where he couldn't cross. He had to get a plane, and then go back to the border before carrying on. Makes my rural walk in search of Temple Balsall seem less than intrepid.

Brandon Wilson said...

A friend and I walked from Dijon, France to Jerusalem in 2006 over five months, recreating much of the route of the First Crusades as a walk for peace. My book about this adventure, Along the Templar Trail, chronicles our sometimes harrowing (but always enlightening) journey. Since one reason for making this hike was to found a modern pilgrim's Templar Trail, the book includes route stages, distances, photos, and maps. For more info and photos, visit our website. http://www.pilgrimstales.com