Via Francigena: Introduction

In August we travelled part of the Via Francigena, Vincenzo on a bicycle and me in the "support" car. We explored the part of this medieval route between Rome and the province of Siena.

This route was first documented in 990 by Sigeric, Archbishop of Canterbury. In his diary he described the places he passed through as he returned to Canterbury after receiving the archbishop's pallium from the Pope. The roads that Sigeric followed became known as the Via Francigena (the road to France) or "Via Romea" (the road to Rome) and was for centuries used by merchants, prelates, soldiers and pilgrims traveling back and forth from the north of Europe to Rome, carrying ideas as well as money and produce. These people travelled on foot, or on mules and horses, rarely by cart as the conditions of the road varied continually.

A 14th century fresco of pilgrims in the Sutri cave chapel of the Madonna del Parto.

We found ourselves going on and off the Via Cassia to reach destinations along the Via Francigena. Our journey from Rome to the monastery of Sant' Antimo took six days and was in four segments. The following four postings are reports from the trip. (1: Rome to Sutri, 2: Sutri to Viterbo, 3: Viterbo to Bolsena, and 4: Bolsena to Sant' Antimo)

Via Francigena: to Sutri

The goal for the first part of our journey along the Via Francigena was the town of Sutri.

Vincenzo is filling up a water bottle at the fountain

in front of our apartment building before beginning his trek.

I went to the Church of San Gregorio Maggiore near the Coliseum to start my trek. It was Pope Gregory the Great who sent the first missionaries to Canterbury in the year 596, so that was probably the first time people traveled from Rome to Cantebury for spiritual purposes along a route that today is called the Via Francigena.
Shortly after following the Via Cassia out of Rome over Monte Mario, I came to dirt roads that would take me to our first intermediate stop, a shrine to Santa Maria della Sorbo.

There was a castle on this site in the 10th century and in the 15th century a Carmelite monastery was attached to the shrine of Madonna della Sorbo. The shrine is now closed for renovations. These are not the first renovations. The church was restored for the first time by the architect Carlo Fontana (1634-1714). It seems that many years ago this was a popular pilgrimage destination for residents of Rome, especially after Easter.

A small make-shift devotional altar has established itself outside of the gate that prevents access to the shrine during the renovations.

Vincenzo continues on his way to Sutri.

As we approached Sutri we encountered tufa caves, used since the time of the Etruscans. The photo above is the entrance to a pilgrimage chapel that used to be a temple of Mithra.

There are some wonderful frescoes inside the cave church,

including this Madonna del Parto.

The "modern" town of Sutri is on a hill behind me.

Via Francigena: Viterbo

A marker for the Via Francigena between Sutri and Viterbo.

Cathedral of San Lorenzo and the Palace of the Popes

In the middle ages when the popes had difficulties asserting their authority over Rome, Viterbo became their favourite residence, beginning with Pope Eugene III (1145-1146). Between 1261 and 1281, five of the eight popes who reigned were elected in Viterbo: Pope Urban IV, elected in 1261; Pope Gregory X in 1271; Pope John XXI in 1276; Pope Nicolas III in 1277; and Pope Martin IV in 1281. Until 1271, the gathering of cardinals for the election was not called a conclave -- the word means under lock and key. After Pope Clement IV died in 1268, the cardinals meeting in Viterbo could not elect his successor. The election dragged on, ultimately lasting 33 months. It was not until city officials locked all of the cardinals in the meeting room, reduced their diet to bread and water and took the roof off the meeting hall that the cardinals elected Pope Gregory. It was Pope Gregory who made it church law that papal elections would take place in a conclave.

Viterbo is a city of lions and fountains.

This is an outdoor pulpit used by Thomas Aquinas.

La Macchina di Santa Rosa (under construction)

We witnessed the beginning of the construction of a new "macchina" for the feast of St. Rose one of the patron saints of Viterbo. (The other patron saint is St. Lawrence.) St. Rose (1233-1251) is remembered every year on September 3rd with a procession of her statue on top of a 5 ton, 30 meter tall tower ("macchina") that is a carried on the shoulders of hundreds of men from Viterbo. Tradition says that what began as a simple transport of her body to a basilica named in her honor a few years after her death, to the devotional spectacle that one can see today, began in response to a vow made by the citizens of the town during the plague of 1657. Every five years the town council has a competition for a new "macchina" design. During the 19th century they were very gothic in appearance. The last couple of towers have been very modern. The new tower that will be used from 2009 to 2013 is designed by Arturo Vittori.

Santa Maria della Carbonara

This 12th century icon should be part of every kitchen!

We found it in Viterbo's Cathedral of San Lorenzo.

Vincenzo and his bike are resting for

the next part of the journey on the Via Francigena.

Via Francigena: Reaching the Goal

Our goal for this part of the journey along the Via Francigena was to reach the Abbey of Sant' Antimo. That was 88 km from Bolsena, and it included a couple of mountain top destinations along the way.

The view as we left Lake Bolsena.

Birdwalk: San Lorenzo Nuovo

The town seal.

Shortly after leaving Bolsena I stopped in the town of San Lorenzo Nuovo. It is "new" because it was built for the survivors of a malaria epidemic in the 18th century, replacing their "old" town. The town was built in only four years (1774-1778) and is an example of a 18th century town plan designed by the architect Francesco Navone. The town has an octagonal layout with the neoclassic Church of San Lorenzo on the one side. The piazza in front of the church is crossed by the Via Cassia, going north-south. This main street is crossed by wide street going to the west, from which a network of smaller streets goes outward in parallel and perpendicular lines.

I enjoyed this arm holding a crucifix on the side of the pulpit

inside the Church of San Lorenzo.

Our first "planned" stop of the day was the Basilica of S. Sepolcro in Acquapendente. The town is named after its many little cascades flowing towards a small river which marks the natural boundary between Lazio and Tuscany.
The crypt of the basilica has a replica of the Holy Sepulchre, built as a shrine that contains a blood-stained stone which came from the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

A detail of one of the beautiful altarpieces by della Robbia in the basilica.

The next part of the days trip was up the mountain to Radicofani.

Radicofani's mountain top landmark is a castle tower, from the time of Charlemagne, that can be seen for many kilometers as you approach the town.

The Romanesque church of San Pietro has some beautiful works by della Robbia.

Vincenzo as he leaves Radicofani, making his way to our last stop, the Abbey of Sant' Antimo.

We have almost arrived. Vincenzo is pointing to the abbey.

The Abbey of Sant' Antimo emerged as a Benedictine abbey from a small oratory built in 352. Legend has it that Charlemagne was the founder of the abbey and he contributed money for the construction. By the 1800's there was no longer a monastic community at Sant' Antimo and when the Papal States came to an end in 1870, the property was taken over by the Italian government. There have been various government directed restorations since then. In 1992 a community of Cannons Regular (Augustinians) began making their home at the Abbey.

We joined the monks for vespers. After experiencing the prayerful Gregorian chant and incense in the Abbey church, it was time for us to conclude our journey along this part of the Via Francigena.

Vincenzo took the wheels off the bike to put it in the car for the drive back home to Rome.

We are looking forward to other journeys along this road.

Under the Tuscan Sun (and moon)

Under the Tuscan Sun

Last week we spent a few days in the region of Siena in Tuscany. As we were driving from place to place the scenery kept unfolding itself as if we were going through an art gallery, looking at one canvas after another of beautiful landscapes.

Under the Tuscan Moon

Our first nights were spent in a bed and breakfast in the Castel Spedaletto in the Val d'Orcia. It was built in the 12th century as a hospice for travellers and pilgrims along the Via Francigena, the road from Canterbury to Rome.
Our night in Siena was spent in Il Chiostro Del Carmine, a hotel that was restored from a 14th century Carmelite Monastery.

Baths for Saints and Sinners

We had dinner one evening in Bagno Vignoni on a terrace overlooking a pool that fills the small town's main piazza. The water comes from thermal springs that were known to the Etruscans. The was the ancient Romans (and their love of baths!) that turned the area into a spa which has attracted people for centuries. Medieval pilgrims traveling the Via Francigena stopped here to relieve their aching feet and legs in the sulpher pools. St. Catherine of Siena and Pope Pius II are both know to have soaked in the waters, and Lorenzo de' Medici was a frequent visitor. Today there are a couple of hotels in Bagno Vignoli that offer full treatments to guests.

The Via Francigena is the route from Canterbury to Rome. The earliest written account of the journey is from Sigeric, the Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 994. His diary describes his itinerary and the main stopping places of the rouet he took.