On June 11, Russell and I set off on a 1,003 km pilgrimage following the via Francigena from Bourg St. Pierre in Switzerland to Rome. We walked 800km on the Camino to Santiago de Compostela in 2013, and the Dingle Way in Ireland in 2014. Like thousands of others, after experiencing the rich blessings of travelling the Way of St. James in Spain, we want to make the pilgrimage to Rome on foot as well.
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith, although sometimes it can be a metaphorical journey into someone's own beliefs. Many religions attach spiritual importance to particular places: the place of birth or death of founders or saints, or to the place of their "calling" or spiritual awakening, or of their connection (visual or verbal) with the divine, to locations where miracles were performed or witnessed, or locations where a deity is said to live or be "housed," or any site that is seen to have special spiritual powers. Such sites may be commemorated with shrines or temples that devotees are encouraged to visit for their own spiritual benefit: to be healed or have questions answered or to achieve some other spiritual benefit. A person who makes such a journey is called a pilgrim.
In the early 21st century the numbers of people of all faiths making pilgrimages has continued to rise, with 39 of the most popular sites alone receiving an estimated 200 million visitors every year.
"Via Francigena" ("the road that comes from France") is the common name of an ancient road and pilgrim route running to Rome from the north. In mediaeval times it was an important pilgrimage route for those wishing to visit the Holy See and the tombs of the apostles Peter and Paul.
History of the via Francigena
[Based on excerpts from numerous internet sources and the book ‘Companion to the Via Francigena - Canterbury to Rome’, by Babette Gallard (2011-08-29)]
In the Dark Ages, around the seventh century, the Lombards vied with the Byzantines for more Italian territory. The strategic need to connect the Kingdom of Pavia with the southern duchies by a secure way to Rome led to the choice of a route, which was known as the "Via di Monte Bardone". It was not a real road in the Roman sense or in the modern sense. In fact, after the fall of the empire, the ancient consular roads fell into disuse, and except for a few lucky cases ended in ruin.
The Roman paving stones gradually disappeared to be replaced by a network of paths and tracks trodden by passing travellers, who generally widened the area of the route to re-converge at the “mansions”(locations where there was lodging for the night), or at some obligatory points like mountain passes or river crossings. Rather than a single road it was a corridor containing paths whose route was affected by natural causes (floods, landslides), changes to the boundaries of territories with the consequent demand for tolls and through the presence of brigands. The route was paved only in towns while elsewhere the paths were of the prevailing trodden clay.
Birth of the via Francigena
When the Lombard rule gave way to that of the Franks, the “Via di Monte Bardone” changed its name to Via Francigena, or "road from France". In that period traffic along the route grew and it became the main connecting route between northern and southern Europe, carrying merchants, armies and pilgrims.
The route was first documented as the "Lombard Way", and was called the Iter Francorum (the "Frankish Route") in the Itinerarium sancti Willibaldi of 725.
The name via Francigena is first mentioned as such in the Actum Clusi, a parchment produced in 876 in the Abbey of San Salvatore al Monte Amiata (Tuscany).
After being ordained Archbishop of Canterbury in 990, Sigeric the Serious used the via Francigena to travel to and from Rome for his consecration by Pope John XV. He recorded his return journey, and the places where he stopped, in a document which is now held in the British Library, but nothing in it suggests that the route was new. His itinerary lists the eighty submansiones which define the via Francigena as we know it today.
The Via Francigena was not a single road, like a Roman road, paved with stone blocks and provided at intervals with a change of horses for official travellers. Rather, it comprised several possible routes that changed over the centuries as trade and pilgrimage waxed and waned. After all, all roads lead to Rome. Depending on the time of year, the political situation, and the relative popularity of the shrines of the saints situated along the route, travellers may have used any of three or four crossings of the Alps and the Apennines. An important point is that unlike Roman roads, the Via Francigena did not connect cities, but relied more on abbeys.
Reports of journeys before Sigeric can only be apocryphal, but we can be certain that William of St Thierry used the roads towards Rome on several occasions at the end of the 11th century. Other itineraries include those of the Icelandic traveller Nikolás Bergsson in 1154 and Philip Augustus of France in 1191. Subsequent accounts also cite the pass over Montgenévre and through the Susa Valley as a route used by both pilgrims travelling to Rome (along what is now recognised as a branch of the via Francigena) and armies invading Italy. In the 12th century the increase in commercial relations between Italy and the Germanic areas led to a renewed use of the passes in the central and eastern Alps, like the St Gotthard and Brenner passes.
Nevertheless, the via Francigena route described by Sigeric was still in frequent use, as evidenced in the journey of Barthelemy Bonis, a merchant of Montauban, who took part in the Jubilee of 1350, having survived the plague of 1348.
Pilgrimage through the ages
Towards the end of the first millennium and the beginning of the second, pilgrimage gained increasing importance. The holy places of Christianity were Jerusalem, Rome and Santiago de Compostela, and the via Francigena became the central hub of the great ways of faith. In fact, many pilgrims coming along the way from the north to Rome would continue towards the ports of Puglia, where they would embark for the Holy Land. Conversely Italian pilgrims to Santiago followed this road to the north, to continue on to Spain. Pilgrimage soon became a mass phenomenon, increasing the profile of the via Francigena, which became a channel of communication fundamental to achieving the cultural unity that characterized Europe in the Middle Ages.
Growth and Decline of the via Francigena
The increasing use of the via Francigena as a trade route led to the unprecedented development of many towns along the way. The way became an essential route to take the goods from the east (silk, spices) to the markets of northern Europe and trade them, usually in the Champagne fairs, for cloth from Flanders and Brabant. In the thirteenth century trade grew to such an extent that several alternative routes to the via Francigena were developed, and it therefore, lost its unique character and broke into numerous different routes linking the north and Rome.
So much so that the name changed to the via Romea, no longer defining the origin, but now the destination. In addition, the growing importance of Florence and the centres of the Arno Valley diverted the paths further east, until the Bologna-Florence road relegated the Cisa Pass to a purely local role, signalling the end of the ancient route.
The Via Francigena today
The official route of the via Francigena today is faithful to the one dictated by the archbishop, Sigeric the Serious, in his diaries. It is divided into 79 stages and from Canterbury through France, Switzerland and Italy to arrive in Rome. It is 2,000 km in length and passes through seven Italian regions - Valle d'Aosta, Piedmont, Lombardy, Emilia Romagna, Liguria, Tuscany, Lazio - and 140 municipalities, with a total of 44 stages in Italy.
The Via Francigena was a path of communication which contributed to the cultural unity of Europe in the Middle Ages. Along it passed people and goods, but also knowledge and experience, moving with the slow pace and consideration attributed to those who travel on foot. This rhythm allows the modern pilgrim a better understanding of the landscape, of history and of the nations of the past and present. The journey turns into a gradual immersion in the roots of our culture, in which subtle changes in the landscape, small and great works of art, the few people we meet along the way, provide us with their message. We assimilate step by step and slowly begin to understand the essence of our heritage.
Far from the media bombardment that characterizes each of our days, and that does not allow us to understand one story before moving to the next, the rhythms and spaces of the via Francigena change our perception of the world, bringing us back to a medieval vision of what surrounds us. We have to deal with practical problems such as hunger, thirst, heat and cold, fear of the dark in a forest in the evening, or a dog that chases us along the path. Ancient problems that will make us understand ancient solutions: the location of the villages, their structure, the distance between one village and another, often responding to the needs of travellers and the opportunities offered by the route.
The via Francigena is also a journey passing through the Italian landscape, a fascinating array of geographical features, often productive but socially diverse. The landscape changes seamlessly: from the pastures of the Aosta Valley to the industrial and agricultural plain of Piedmont, from the broad Po river to the rolling hills of Emilia, from the harshness of northern Tuscany to the sweetness of the Crete Senesi and the enchantment of the volcanic lakes of Lazio. With the changes in landscape we also see changes in the industry, the people, the social fabric and the population density: from the depopulation of the Alpine and Apennine valleys to the overcrowding of the Roman suburbs, and the Italian countryside, in its many forms.
The path is extraordinarily beautiful and unexpectedly new and original even if you already know some of the places visited. The journey will change your point of view and change your rhythm. Travelling on the via Francigena we realize that the road has influenced the fabric of the villages that have developed along its length, It is often aligned with the main street and bordered by the most important churches and the most beautiful buildings. Perhaps you are aware that many of the masterpieces of Romanesque architecture stand beside the via Francigena, but in our journey we meet them one after the other, fully understanding the importance of this route, and the influence it had on the religious and artistic development of an era.
State of the Path
Only a few decades ago, interest in the Via Francigena was limited to scholars. This began to change in recent years when many who, after travelling the Way of St. James in Spain, wanted to make the pilgrimage to Rome on foot as well. In Italy, this gave birth to a network of lovers of the Via Francigena, who with paint and brush, began to mark its trails and paths. These people were joined by religious and local government agencies who also tried to recover the original route. Where possible today's route follows the ancient one but sometimes it deviates from the historical path in favour of paths and roads with low traffic. The potential for the tourist trade in Italy has been recognised but this has also led some to take advantage - some have worked to divert the path so that it passes around this bar or that restaurant!
Our Pilgrims Prayer
Lord, we ask that you watch over us as we walk the via Francigena to Rome.
Be for us our companion on the way,
Our guide at the crossroads,
Our protection in danger,
When we are weary, let us lean on you.
When we lose our way, help us to see the beauty that you led us to discover.
Be for us our light in the darkness,
Our consolation in our discouragements,
And our strength in our intentions,
that through your guidance, we may arrive safely at the end of our journey and, enriched with grace and virtue, may return to our home filled with joy, peace, hope and love.
Amen
Why are we walking the via Francigena
Lynn’s motivation - Pilgrimage is traditionally a journey to a holy place — a place where saints have walked, a place where God has met people and blessed them.
Holy locations tend to inspire a sense of awe in those who visit them. Emotions and thoughts can clear and crystallize so that the divine can more easily be recognized. Cultivating a relationship with the sacred is the central theme and benefit of travelling on pilgrimages.
The via Francigena is the pilgrimage route to the Holy See in Rome, housing the tombs of the apostles Peter and Paul. Pilgrims have trod this route over more than ten centuries, making the ground holy.
Pilgrimage is an opportunity to travel lightly, to walk free of daily routines, to meet people, to make friends, to enjoy and celebrate God’s creation. There is an opportunity, too, in the travelling, the conversations and the silences to reflect on the journey of our lives and on our journey homewards to God. And whether the context for pilgrimage is solitude or community, we will be drawn deeper into the mystery of God and the care of creation.
People through the ages have journeyed with God on pilgrimage:— to develop a closer relationship with God or nature, to seek forgiveness/perform a penance, to ask for healing, to pray for places where there is war or national disaster, to pray for family or friends, to seek guidance for a specific issue.
Pilgrimages offer rest and renewal which can lead to personal discovery. The old is left behind and new visions of the future are illuminated.
My primary spiritual goal on the via Francigena is to seek to find forgiveness for someone whose behavior has caused me great pain which I carry in my heart and I have not been able to forgive. I will never forget, condone or excuse the wrongdoings, and I will never again let them in my personal space and risk having them hurt me some more, but I’m hoping that, with God’s help, I will be able to gain some peace of mind and let go of my deeply held negative feelings toward the offender.
Russ’s motivation -Lynn said she would like to walk the ViaFrancigena and I instantly agreed. I love hiking and it sounded like a great challenge. I want to see if there are any signs of Hannibal and his elephants.
