The way is a unique experience in itself, between the vastness of the mountains and the paths walked by José Grabriel del Rosario Brochero, the first saint that was born, lived, and died in Argentina. It connects three destinations in Córdoba province: Villa Santa Rosa de Río Primero, Córdoba city and Villa Cura Brochero, along 149 miles. The way is composed of 15 trails that show us his birth, childhood, youth, academic and religious education, and the pastoral and social work of the argentine saint.
Although the tour can start an any point in the way, a good option is to begin in Villa Santa Rosa de Río Primero, in Carreta Quemada, birthplace of Cura Brochero (1840), where he was baptized and lived during his childhood and adolescence. Then, in his youth, Brochero arrived in Córdoba city, where he studied and finished his religious education. He lived a big part of his grown man’s life in Villa del Tránsito -nowadays called Villa Cura Brochero- where he envisioned his evangelizing work and assistance to the others.
These life stages, marked by the places he visited, give rise to The Way of Brochero, and are bundled in an “inclusive tour” that outlines the saint’s life in Córdoba province. The way has a total of 149 miles.
THE WAY AND ITS TRAILS
Villa Santa Rosa
In Villa Santa Rosa, we find Carreta Quemada, a small village where José Grabriel Brochero was born in March 16th, 1840. Visitors can tour the “Way of faith of Brochero as a child”, between Carreta Quemada and the parish, a tour of totems that symbolize the early stages of his faith.
Declared National Historic Monument in 1976, in Santa Rosa, you can visit the Brochero family’s house, where José Gabriel Brochero lived between 1840 and 1856, and after he finished his active priesthood between 1906 and 1912.
In Santa Rosa de Lima chapel, we can see the baptismal font where Brochero was baptized, a First-degree Heirloom of Saint Brochero. It can be visited and it was declared a State Historic Monument in 1994.
To complete the historic and religious way, in Santa Rosa we find the old spiritual exercises house. It dates back to 1887, and there, the priest celebrated mass. Besides, you can visit the Santísimo Rosario School, built in 1895 thanks to his commitment to education in those years.
Córdoba city
In 1856, José Gabriel del Rosario Brochero arrived in Córdoba city to enter Nuestra Señora de Loreto Seminary School and begin his priesthood road. Nowadays, that area is located between 27 de abril and Obispo Trejo streets, and Santa Catalina passageway, where there is a square called Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera with a statue of Priest Brochero made of stone and marble.
It’s also important to visit the Jesuit Block in Córdoba city: Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús, Capilla Doméstica, Residencia de los Padres Jesuitas, Colegio Nacional de Montserrat, Museo Histórico de la Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Salón de Grados, and Biblioteca Mayor. All of them were everyday study places in Brochero’s academic education.
In the traditional district of General Paz in Córdoba city, you can visit Congregación de las Hermanas Esclavas del Corazón de Jesús and its school. Priest Brochero visited this place because of his close friendship with Mother Catalina de Rodríguez. Another spotlight in that district is in 24 de septiembre Av. and Pringles street. It’s the Galindez family’s house, where Priest Brochero stayed every time he visited his friend Catalina and where he spent some of his last years of active life.
To understand his active apostolic commitment, with ideas and faith, it’s important to visit religious and tourist landmarks where Brochero operated when he was in Córdoba city: the Cathedral, the historic Cabildo, Juárez Celman’s house, and the Spiritual Exercises House. All of them are located downtown.
Villa Cura Brochero
In that city of Traslasierra Valley, that takes his name, we can visit several landmarks in Brochero’s life, sensitive to his worshipers’ faith. In Villa Cura Brochero, we find a monument of the priest in Centenario Square, and Iglesia Parroquial Nuestra Señora del Tránsito is the current sanctuary devoted to Saint Priest Brochero.
It’s also interesting to visit Museo Brocheriano, located in the city, in the former first courtyard of the spiritual exercises house, which keeps Brochero’s personal objects.
With a great commitment to helping people, Brochero worked to provide drinking water to the neighbors, and nowadays we can see and take pictures of the structures of Acuedutos Los Chiflones and Toma Vieja.
To get to know the natural landscape where the priest lived, in Villa Cura Brochero we can visit Posta del Algarrobo, the Beatification Property, Paseo del Encanto, and the waterfall and dam. As the main expression of faith, in the city we find Santo Brochero Chapel Sanctuary, the Pilgrim’s House, and Parque Temático Brochero Santo, where there are works of art and a unique landscape that tell us the whole life of the argentine saint.
As a whole picture of Traslasierra Valley, we can also visit Nono, Villa Las Rosas, and San Vicente.
The way of the Pilgrim
This way is a unique experience, steeped in the middle of the mountains. Along its 17.4 miles, it resembles the path along which Saint Gabriel Brochero walked. The way implies a six-hour trek, where there are eight stations built for the meditation and praying of the pilgrims. Each one, located 2.8 miles apart, is identified by a 20-foot concrete totem, crowned by rustic metal pieces that form the image of a cross that raises the figure of Saint Brochero to the sky.
The way starts in Giulio Cesare, on Altas Cumbres Highway, at 105-kilometer landmark. Halfway, you can find the refurbished chapel of Villa Benegas, and ideal cozy place to rest and pray. There is also a service area and restrooms. It continues through the mountains up to Villa Cura Brochero, and the final stop is Providencia Sanctuary.
Twin ways
In February 2023, an agreement was signed to twin the Way of Apostle James and the Way of Brochero, that allows the promotion of religious tourism between Córdoba, Argentina and Galicia, Spain.
The Way of St. James is a group of christian pilgrimage ways, with medieval origin, that get to James’ shrine, located in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain. This way is endorsed by international bodies. The way is quite old, and has historic, cultural and religious value. Besides, it was declared Humanity Heritage by UNESCO.
Both ways provide similar experiences, based on the spirit and the meeting through history, culture, nature, interaction with people, and confraternity of pilgrims. Promoting pilgrimage ways, for both provinces, means exchanging historic and spiritual values, and boosting confraternity between different societies to foster peace in the world.
