The Via Francigena was an important medieval road connecting continental Europa with Rome and the harbours to Jerusalem in Apulia (Bari, Brindisi, Otranto). It is not exact to consider "via Francigena" the whole route used by archibishop Sigeric in the year 990, because the name "Francigena" means in latin language "generated in France". So, only the italian part of the route can be named "Francigena".

The pilgrimage to Rome

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The Via Francigena was a major pilgrimage to Rome during the Medieval era, and is even so today. The route was first documented in the 10th Century when the Archbishop of Canterbury Sigeric the Serious travelled Rome to see the Pope in Rome in order to be consecrated.

The Via Francigena is not a single 'road' in the strict sense. It comprises a number of possible routes which changed over the centuries as trade and pilgrimage developed. Depending on the time of year, the political situation and the relative popularity of the shrines of saints along the route, travellers may have taken one of three or four crossings of the Alps and the Apennines. The Lombards paid for the maintenance and defence of the road as a trading route to the north from Rome, avoiding enemy held cities such as Florence.

The Via Francigena today

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The Via Francigena was designated a cultural route by the Council of Europe in 1994.

In November 2005, Italian politician Romano Prodi announced he would revitalize the Via Francigena if elected Prime Minister in the 2006 election.

External links

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• Via Francigena website
• Via Francigena Association
• Cyclelog of the route
• Giovanni Caselli's site - La Via Francigena: Highway to Heaven
• Via Francigena In Italy
• ^*

Hiking trails in Europe | Pilgrimages

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