The Poetics of Spiritual Geography in Viaje de Egeria

Abstract

Viaje de Egeria is a unique account of a 4th-century female pilgrim documenting her experiences in biblical lands. While most studies have focused on identifying the author and the discovery of the manuscript, less attention has been given to the literary richness of her work. As Popeanga (1991) notes, descriptions in travel narratives are essential to their rhetoric. In Egeria’s case, her descriptions go beyond the narrative and achieve a fusion between geography and spirituality. This integration allows the physical landscape to take on a sacred meaning, where the geographical journey intertwines with spiritual reflection. The article examines how this union between the geographical and the divine shapes Egeria’s poetics, portraying her observations of nature and geography as part of a religious experience.