by Brandon Wilson
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Early Christians believed there were three roads to Paradise. The first, the Camino de Santiago, meanders 500 miles across northern Spain. This has been trekked by millions for centuries, on their way to pay homage to the remains of the apostle St. James in Santiago de Compostela.
In second position is the Via Francigena (The Frankish Route), with origins in the seventh century.
The path from Rome, center of the Holy See, to Jerusalem is the third.
The Via Francigena (V.F.) has probably received the least attention over the centuries, but this is changing. This route, which originally stretched as a series of trails from Canterbury, England, to Rome, is enjoying a resurgence of popularity. Its existence was first documented in a diary by Sigeric, Archbishop of Canterbury, who returned via the route in 990 AD, though the path probably existed long before Sigeric’s wanderings-as a major cross-continent trail for early kings, traders, artists, and invading armies.
As penance by pilgrimage fell from popularity, walking paths were replaced by roads and wars shifted national boundaries-causing this ancient passage to become less important. In fact, it was forgotten for centuries.
As I said, though, thanks to the efforts of the Rome-based Association Via Francigena and the European Council, which recently named the V.F. a "Cultural Itinerary," this is changing. New guidebooks have appeared for the modern-day pilgrim, or pellegrino. Efforts are afoot to increase trail markings with signage featuring a pellegrino logo…to enlist the support of local and national walking and alpinist clubs…to move the trail off often busy, two-lane roads onto farmland or back onto remnants of the original pathway, and to promote the Via Francigena throughout Europe and abroad.
Journey of a lifetime
In the early days, pilgrims had to endure bandits, illness, wolves, difficult river crossings, and encounters with hostile armies. Today your journey can be far less challenging.
As the first American to complete the 1,155-mile journey from Val d’Aosta, just south of the Swiss border, to Rome, in 2000, and recently from Switzerland to Canterbury, I can attest that this is a journey you’ll carry with you for a lifetime. If you’re in good physical condition, you should be able to walk the route in 60 to 80 days.
It’s not a race. It’s a one-step-at-a-time adventure that slows your mind and opens your heart.
Following signposts, or an up-to-date guidebook, you can easily cover 12 to 20 miles a day, depending on the weather, your physical condition, and your attitude. Factor into your itinerary the location of villages along the way, and whether they have accommodation (many do not) or "pilgrim-friendly" parishes.
Before starting your pilgrimage, contact the Association Via Francigena in Rome to get your pilgrim credentials, a document to identify you as a "true" pilgrim-that is, not an impostor taking advantage of people’s hospitality along the route. When you arrive in each village at night, take your credentials to the church or cathedral, where the local priest will stamp it for you.
These credentials have a practical purpose. They can mean accommodation for the night at little or no cost in the local parish, monastery, or convent. You could also stay in a hotel or a B&B, of course. There are even spa resorts along the route. I wanted a real pilgrim experience and chose to stay in historic and religious hostels. The chance to "break bread" and share Chianti with Franciscan, Augustine, and Capuchin monks was preferable for me to any hotel.
Pack light
Pack as if you’re going for a weekend hike in the mountains. A stove and tent are unnecessary. Food supplies are plentiful-and exceptional. A lightweight sleeping bag is a good idea, as many parishes will offer you a place to lay your head…but don’t have beds, let alone bedding.
Be prepared to discover there’s no room at the inn…after you’ve spent eight hours on the trail in brutal heat. Don’t be surprised when you’re told "so-and-so" town is just seven miles away. That means a trek of several hours in near darkness. This doesn’t happen often, but it happens.
The French and Italians I encountered along the route were delightful and generous. Some of my fondest memories of the journey are of practicing my mangled Italian and awkward hand gestures with curious villagers. People I met were astonished to discover someone would walk to Rome, and everyone had a wide-eyed fascination with the Via Francigena and a genuine warmth you don’t often find among jaded locals in major tourist destinations…from the fruit peddler who wouldn’t accept payment for his apple…to the café owner who treated me to a steamy morning espresso…from the small town priest, his housekeeper, and mother who treated us like royalty and wept when we left…to the local mayor who let me use the village’s sole Internet connection to check my e-mail.
A spiritual odyssey
Who walks the Via Francigena today? Unlike the thousands trekking the Camino de Santiago, you are a pioneer on the V.F. During a pilgrimage in fall 2000, my companion for the first two weeks was Juan Ignacio Preciado, a stalwart Basque engineer who had hiked part of the Camino with me in 1999. Over four weeks on the trail, I met six other pilgrims: a hearty Frenchman cycling to Jerusalem and five German cyclists en route to Rome.
It’s a spiritual odyssey…a chance to shut out the distractions of a busy world, to meditate, to reaffirm your faith, to search for answers, to find inspiration.
Opportunities for peaceful reflection should improve with time, as the trail continues to be moved away from the often-dangerous roads. Italians push their Fiats to the limit. The narrow thoroughfares are garlanded with monuments to fallen drivers and pedestrians. Some stretches of the path will test your bravery, faith, and devotion. The country roads in France and well-marked trails in Switzerland and Southeast England are a delight, though.
More than just a trek
The trek is also a chance to discover art and architectural treasures, such as Siena’s marbled Duomo and its neighboring museums in Lucca and San Gimignano. It’s a chance to stroll ancient Roman roads, to explore castles, and to see elaborate fountains, frescoes, sculptures, and holy relics sequestered in tiny chapels along the way.
It’s also a chance to take part in a centuries-old tradition, wandering the same path in the same spirit (earning the same aching muscles and blisters along the way) as thousands of other pilgrims have done before you.
Revel also in the traditional Italian delicacies, from Pontremoli’s specialty, morsels of earthy fungo (mushrooms), to Rome’s melt-in-your-mouth buffalo mozzarella. All the delicacies from your favorite cooking show are right there, from the abundant savory chestnuts at your feet for the gathering to the tartly satisfying Gorgonzola pizzas and gooey fondue of the alpine north.
If you begin in Canterbury, you can take part in a special pilgrim’s blessing at Canterbury Cathedral, and you can end your pilgrimage in Rome by attending the Pope’s public audience, held from 10 a.m. every Wednesday. What a contrast, to walk alone past shepherds and their flocks and then to emerge in St. Peter’s Square an hour later, where the faithful are gathered from around the world. But I like to think that perhaps I was the only person who had made my way here on my own two feet.
In St. Peter’s Basilica, visit the Association Via Francigena’s representative in the Vatican Post Office to your left. You will receive a hearty welcome and a Vatican postcard stamped with your day of arrival.
For more information:
The Association Via Francigena provides information and pilgrim passports and publishes two useful guidebooks: website: www.francigena.ch.
Editor’s note: Brandon Wilson is an expert long-distance trekker/writer/photographer based in Hawaii. The Via Francigena was his third pilgrimage. In 1992, he and his wife became perhaps the first Western couple to cross the Himalayas on an ancient pilgrim’s path from Lhasa, Tibet, to Kathmandu. His book about the experience, "Yak Butter Blues-A Tibetan Trek of Faith," is available at
Brandon Wilson is an expert long-distance trekker/writer/photographer based in Hawaii. The Via Francigena was his third pilgrimage. In 1992, he and his wife became perhaps the first Western couple to cross the Himalayas on an ancient pilgrim’s path from Lhasa, Tibet, to Kathmandu. His book about the experience, "Yak Butter Blues-A Tibetan Trek of Faith," is available at www.amazon.com.
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