The ViaFrancigena , Franchigena sometimes called, is the route of a pilgrimage from Canterbury to Rome and was one of the most important roads in the European Middle Ages. The report
Travel oldest dates back to 990 where it is described in 79 stages the return journey from Rome to Sigerico, Archbishop of Canterbury. Is an exceptional step of signs, emblems, cultures and languages \u200b\u200bof the Christian West. Are still found on the territory of the memories of this passage that has deeply structured settlement patterns along the route and the path. A shift that has allowed the different European cultures to communicate and get in touch, forging the basis for cultural, artistic, economic and politics of modern Europe.
Since 1994 the ViaFrancigena was declared "Cultural Route of the Council of Europe" assuming, like the Camino de Santiago, a supra-national dignity.
spread over a 1,600 km route from Canterbury, and comes to Dover to cross the English Channel, from Calais via Reims, Besancon and Lausanne to get to the Alps that are passed to the Great St. Bernard. Dalla Valle d'Aosta is down to Vercelli, Pavia, crossing the Apennines between the provinces of Piacenza and Parma. Continue from Pontremoli to Lucca, San Gimrignano, Poggibornsi, Siena, Viterbo and ends in Rome.
Sigerico took 79 days to traverse, on foot of course, all of the 1,600 km journey. The average distance of travel was then about 20 km per day.
The constraints for pilgrims and travelers had to overcome were the English Channel, the Alps and the Apennines. While the first two did not exist many alternatives to cross the Apennines there were several possibilities. In the stretch of the Via Cassia, leading from the Po Valley to Tuscany, there were several variants path that exploited the various passes up the valley of Trebbia rather than the valley of the Taro or other minor valleys.
Taken from wikipedia.org
