Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port grounds. The town has traditionally been an important point on the Way of St. James, the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, as it stands at the base of the Roncevaux Pass across the Pyrenees. "Pied-de-Port" means 'foot of the pass' in Pyrenean French. The routes from Paris, Vézelay and Le Puy-en-Velay meet at Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and it was the pilgrims' last stop before the arduous mountain crossing. In 1998, the "Porte St-Jacques" (city gate) was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites as part of the sites along the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France. The cobbled rue de la
Bayonne–Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port railway Bayonne–Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port railway The Bayonne - Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port railway is a French 52-kilometre long railway line, that connects the Bayonne to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, running through the foothills of the Pyrenees. The railway was opened fully in 1898. The Bayonne - Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port railway leaves the Gare de Bayonne in a southerly direction. It crosses the river Adour south of Bayonne town centre, and then splits with the Toulouse-Bayonne railway and Bordeaux-Irun railway. It continues through valleys within the Pyrenees until it reaches Gare de Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, its south-western terminus. The line opened in 3 sections between 1891 and 1898 as follows: Between 1930 and 1931