Partner
Association Belge des Amis de Saint-Jacques
The association of Belgian pilgrims to Santiago, founded in 1986: it describes and waymarks the Via Mosana from Aachen and Maastricht via Liège to Namur, gives members their credencial and holds monthly information evenings in Brussels.
The Caminos on the map
Caminos of this partner
Via MosanaFrom Maastricht to the mouth of the Sambre: The Via Mosana follows the Meuse River over 6 stages and approximately 130 kilometers—passing through Visé to the episcopal city of Liège, through the Ourthe Valley to the Condroz Plateau, and along the river to Namur. A short, well-marked trail with a very long history: In Liège in 1056, a monk named Robert set out for Santiago and returned with relics; in Namur, starting in 1406, a pilgrim hostel took in the “Jacquets.” The name simply indicates which river the route follows: “Mosa” is Latin for the Meuse.Explore this Camino- Via Mosana DETwo days, one mission: the Via Mosana DE takes you from Aachen Cathedral to Liège—52 kilometers through the Marian pilgrimage site of Moresnet-Chapelle and the fruit orchards of the Herve region, until the trail drops steeply down to the Meuse River. It is the German feeder route to the Via Mosana, and it follows the old Niederstraße, the route pilgrims from northern Germany used to connect with the French trails. You’ll get your first stamp in St. Jakob—the church that, according to legend, Charlemagne founded upon his return from the Tomb of St. James.Explore this Camino
- Via ScaldeaThe Scheldt Way of St. James: 276.2 kilometers from Vlissingen on the North Sea to the Basilica of Saint-Quentin—upstream, from the mouth almost to the source, through three countries and two languages. The name is the river’s oldest: Caesar called it “Scaldis” in 53 B.C., and he immediately misidentified its location. Along the way: the ferry across the Westerschelde, Ghent with its St. James Church dating from 1093, the old imperial border near Ename, the Five-Tower Cathedral of Tournai, 2.3 kilometers of Paris-Roubaix cobblestones—and at the finish, a floor labyrinth from 1495 that measures 260 meters when traversed on one’s knees.Explore this Camino
- Via MonasticaThe Monastery Trail through three countries: 283 kilometers from Vessem in North Brabant through the Kempen, the Hageland, and Haspengouw, then along the Meuse Valley and through the Ardennes forests to Rocroi in France. It takes its name from the Norbertine abbeys of Postel, Tongerlo, Averbode, and Leffe—and there’s a family tree behind it: Almost all of them trace their origins back to Floreffe, which Norbert of Xanten founded himself in 1121 and which lies along the route just before Namur. Since the fall of 2024, the route has been continuously marked; in Rocroi, it passes the torch to the Via Campaniensis, heading toward Vézelay.Explore this Camino
Who stands behind the route
The Association Belge des Amis de Saint-Jacques de Compostelle is an asbl, a non-profit association, founded on 16 April 1986 by a small group of friends who had walked to Santiago themselves. It is the association of French-speaking Belgium; its Flemish sister society, the Vlaams Compostelagenootschap, was founded the same year. Its motto is “À chacun son chemin” – to each their own way – and that is how it sees itself: spiritual, but explicitly pluralist.
The association accompanies pilgrims from Belgium and everyone passing through Belgium on the way to Santiago, from the first planning to after the return; its board is made up of people who have made the pilgrimage themselves. Its magazine is called Le Pecten – after the Latin genus name of the scallop. Issue number 100 appeared for its 25th anniversary in 2011.
The association's routes
- Via Mosana – 129.8 km from Maastricht via Visé and Liège along the Meuse to Namur
- Via Mosana DE – 51.8 km from Aachen Cathedral via Moresnet-Chapelle and the Pays de Herve to Liège
- Via Monastica – 282.1 km from Vessem in North Brabant through Limburg and Wallonia to Rocroi; for the association part of the “Via Monastica & Limburgica”
- Via Limburgica – 131.9 km from Thorn in Limburg to Branchon, from Boneffe together with the Via Monastica towards Namur
- Via Gallia Belgica – 63.2 km from Hampteau to Nivelles; the association runs it from Hélécine to Vieux-Reng, with a variant via Le Roeulx
- Via Scaldea – 276.2 km from Vlissingen to Saint-Quentin; the association looks after the Walloon section to Saint-Amand-les-Eaux
For the association, the two Mosana routes together form the Via Mosana 1, which starts “from Aachen or from Maastricht”. From Namur it continues as the Via Mosana 2 to Rocroi on the French border (94 km, not yet on its own page at Camino Ninja) and from there on the Via Campaniensis towards Vézelay. The association also describes the Via Tenera from Antwerp to Saint-Quentin, the Via Thiérache and a route from Brussels via Halle to Nivelles.
What the association does for pilgrims
The association issues the credencial to members only – but then free of charge. The annual fee is €30 in Belgium, €36 outside Belgium, €20 for under-25s and €38 for families; it also covers four issues of Le Pecten a year, the “Paroles de Camino” newsletter and the library (as of October 2026). The credencial arrives by post – allow at least ten working days – or is handed to you in person at an information evening. The association's shop sells the current guide to the Via Mosana, Topoguide G001 “de Maastricht à Namur” (2025 edition).
On the first Thursday of every month it holds an information evening from 6:30 to 9 pm at the Salle Excelsior in Brussels-Jette, 50 metres from Jette station – free and without registration; on top of that come meetings in Wallonia, walks, bike tours, a spiritual preparation day and the feast of St James. In Le Roeulx (Faubourg de Binche 1) is the library, with more than 600 books and documents in French, English and Spanish, free to borrow for members. The website also has an accommodation directory and a practical guide.
Contact and getting involved
Website: st-jacques.be (French, Dutch, German, English); email amis@st-jacques.be, secretariat +32 475 56 04 49, plus a Facebook page. If you set off from the Rhineland or Limburg, you have an association in Belgium that also speaks German – and a river Meuse that sets the course all the way to Namur.