Partner

Associação Espaço Jacobeus – Confraria de São Tiago (AEJ)

The nationwide Catholic pilgrim association from Braga with 27 delegations: its volunteers in the Algarve waymarked the Camino de Faro from Faro Cathedral to Almodôvar.

Visit websiteaej.pt

The Camino on the map

Caminos of this partner

Camino de Faro – From the Algarve to the TagusThe Camino de Faro runs 437 kilometers from the cathedral in Faro over the Serra do Caldeirão, through the cereal steppe of Castro Verde, the Order town of Santiago do Cacém and the cork oak forests around Grândola to the Tagus. At Porto de Muge it joins the Camino Portugués Central from Lisbon; from there it is another 541.5 kilometers to Santiago. 18 stages, almost 3,800 meters of climbing, very few pilgrims and even fewer pilgrim hostels – but the route along which the Order of Santiago helped conquer Portugal.Explore this Camino

Who is behind the route

The Associação Espaço Jacobeus – Confraria de São Tiago, AEJ for short, is a Catholic pilgrim association based in Braga. It has been active since 2004, was recognised by the Archdiocese of Braga as a church association in 2006 and joined the Archconfraternity of the Apostle St James in Santiago the same year. It is a member of the Federação Portuguesa do Caminho de Santiago.

The AEJ works across the whole country: with 27 delegations it is present from the Minho to the Algarve, as well as on Madeira, in the Azores and in Santiago de Compostela itself. Its volunteers advise pilgrims, research the Portuguese Ways of St James and look after waymarking and maintenance together with municipalities, local associations and hostels.

The AEJ's route

Camino de Faro – From the Algarve to the Tagus – Faro–Almodôvar section: 88.4 km from Faro Cathedral via Loulé, Salir and the Serra do Caldeirão to Almodôvar in the Alentejo; the whole route runs 437.1 km to the Tagus

In the Algarve, volunteers around the Faro delegation began waymarking the route north with yellow arrows in 2016. The AEJ backed the project and moved it forward with municipalities, hiking groups and the Diocese of the Algarve; in March 2017 the stages from Faro to Almodôvar were recognised. The volunteers called their route the Caminho Português Central do Sul. From Almodôvar, the Camino de Faro follows the Caminho Central – Alentejo e Ribatejo.

What the AEJ does for pilgrims

The AEJ issues the credencial, which you can order online for €3.20 plus postage (as of October 2026) or pick up from the delegations. It advises pilgrims before they set off, organises pilgrim walks, talks, exhibitions and concerts and publishes material on the Portuguese routes.

Contact and getting involved

For the route from Faro, the Faro delegation is the right contact, at faro@aej.pt; the Almodôvar delegation is at almodovar@aej.pt. You can write to the head office in Braga at geral@aej.pt. Everything else, including ordering the credencial, is on aej.pt. An association that extended the Way of St James to Portugal's southern coast.