One of the main attributes of the Saint James Way was installed in Vinnytsia – a cairn showing the distance and direction to the city of Santiago de Compostela, the final point of this cultural and pilgrimage route that runs through Europe.

The cairn was brought here from Spain. It was donated to Vinnytsia by the government of Xunta de Galicia, with the capital in Santiago de Compostela, in cooperation with the European Federation of St. James Way as part of the Simbolos Jacobeos en el mundo project. It is made of granite and is just over a meter high. It depicts a ceramic shell (a symbol of the St. James pilgrimage routes), a yellow arrow pointing west, a map of Europe, and a bronze plaque indicating the distance (4,625 km).

The cairn was installed in Vinnytsia on July 25 on the occasion of St. James' Day and the official certification of the Camino Podolico as part of the first European cultural route. It can be seen in front of the central bridge over the Southern Buh River from the Roshen embankment.
 

The cairn was unveiled by Deputy Mayor of Vinnytsia Andriy Ocheretnyi, who was elected vice president of the European Federation of Saint James Way in early July, Secretary of the Custody of the Friars Minor Capuchin in Ukraine Brother Kostiantyn Morozov, Mayor of Bar Volodymyr Savoliuk, Deputy Mayor of Kamianets-Podilskyi Dmytro Nazarenko, and Rector of the Temple of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Angels Józef Chromy.

“Vinnytsia is honored to be the easternmost starting point of the Saint James Way in Europe. Previously, this point was the Romanian city of Iași, located 4,500 kilometers from the Spanish cathedral with the relics of St. James. I hope that in the coming years we will be able to connect these two cities, which are linked by centuries of history,” said Andriy Ocheretnyi.

The stone cairn was placed overlooking the historical crossings of the river to the center of Vinnytsia, as many tourists and pilgrims who start the Camino Podolico come to the starting point of the route (the Temple of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Angels) from the railway or central bus stations on the left bank.
 

Reference: Camino Podolico: The St. James Way of Podillya is a cultural and pilgrimage route from Vinnytsia to Kamianets-Podilskyi via Bar, modeled after the St. James Way, which runs through Europe and leads to the city of Santiago de Compostela in Spain. The route connects 14 points in Vinnytsia and Khmelnytskyi regions: Vinnytsia, Hnivan, Brailiv, Zhmerynka, Severynivka, Bar, Yaltushkiv, Vinkivtsi, Zinkiv, Maliivtsi, Dunaivtsi, Makiv, Kamianets-Podilskyi and other picturesque towns and villages of Podillya.
Vinnytsia City Council, as the coordinator of the Camino Podolico, was officially accepted into the European Federation of St. James Way at the organization's General Assembly in June 2023. As a result of the successful completion of the Council of Europe's certification cycle, the status of the Camino Podolico route as part of the European cultural route Camino de Santiago was confirmed in May 2024.