Partner
Amis et Pèlerins de Saint-Jacques de la Voie de Vézelay
The route association of the Voie de Vézelay, founded in 1999 in Vézelay: it accompanies pilgrims on the Via Lemovicensis to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, waymarks the historic route and runs five pilgrim refuges of its own.
The Caminos on the map
Caminos of this partner
Via LemovicensisThe Via Lemovicensis, known in France as the Voie de Vézelay, runs 918 kilometers from the Basilica of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine in Vézelay straight through the heart of France to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port at the foot of the Pyrenees. It is one of the four roads described in the Codex Calixtinus around 1140, and to this day it leads to the three shrines the Codex urged on pilgrims from Vézelay: Mary Magdalene in Vézelay, Leonard in Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat and Front in Périgueux. Plan on around 40 stages across the Loire, the Berry, the Limousin, the Périgord and the pine forests of the Landes, ↗ 9,355 meters, with the highest point at 662 meters near Saint-Goussaud. In Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, the Camino Francés begins.Explore this Camino- Via Lemovicensis Southern VariantThe Via Lemovicensis Southern Variant is the southern of the two branches into which the Way of St. James splits after Vézelay for a good two weeks: 281.9 kilometers through Corbigny, Nevers, Saint-Amand-Montrond and La Châtre to Gargilesse-Dampierre on the Creuse, where it rejoins the main route via Bourges. Along the way you pass the convent of Saint-Gildard in Nevers, where Bernadette Soubirous has rested in a glass reliquary since 1925, and the rotunda of Neuvy-Saint-Sépulchre, a copy of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The terrain is gentle, ↗ 2,211 meters over the whole route, and the highest point is a mere 341 meters. Plan on 13 to 15 stages through Burgundy, the Nivernais and the Berry.Explore this Camino
Who stands behind the route
The Amis et Pèlerins de Saint-Jacques de la Voie de Vézelay were founded on 19 December 1999 in Vézelay, at the foot of the Basilica of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, where the Voie de Vézelay begins. As early as around 1140 the Codex Calixtinus names this route as one of the four great pilgrim roads through France; the association carries its Latin name Via Lemovicensis on as a registered trademark. It is a member of the Fédération Compostelle-France.
Its aim is simple: to accompany pilgrims along the whole route to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port – with a waymarked route that follows the historic stages, and with places to sleep where there would otherwise be none. Along the long route several St James associations take turns; the association from Vézelay holds the route together as a whole.
The society's routes
- Via Lemovicensis – the whole route: 918 km from Vézelay via La Charité-sur-Loire, Bourges, Limoges and Périgueux to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port
- Via Lemovicensis Southern Variant – the whole route: 281.9 km from Vézelay via Nevers to Gargilesse-Dampierre, where it rejoins the main route
What the society does for pilgrims
The association runs five refuges of its own with five or six places each: on the main route in Velles, Sorges and Saint-Ferme, on the variant via Nevers in Ainay-le-Château and Bouzais. Volunteer hospitaliers welcome you from 4 pm; you pay what you can (“libre participation”). The refuges are open from 15 March to 15 October, Sorges and Saint-Ferme until 31 October (as of October 2026). It's best to let them know the day before.
On top of that come the waymarking of the route, drop-in sessions, a shop with credencial and guidebooks, and errata lists for the common guidebooks. Members receive the credencial free of charge, and you can also collect it at the association's office in Vézelay.
Contact and getting involved
Maps, refuges, the shop and the contact form are on vezelay-compostelle.eu; email: president@vezelay-compostelle.eu, post: 24 rue Saint-Pierre, 89450 Vézelay. An association that has made a 12th-century route habitable again with five small refuges.