Trekking Tour: Rome is the sacred city. In the Middle Ages thousands of pilgrims faced a long and winding trail to reach the eternal city.
hey looked for the forgiveness of their sins and felt moved as they visited the place of Saint Peter and Paul’s martyrdom. In 990 the archbishop of Canterbury arrived in Rome in order to receive from the Pope’s hands, a banner, a symbol of the archbishop’s dignity. His itinerary of around 1600 km, was completed in 79 stages and centuries after was called the “via Francigena”. This pilgrimage, one of the most beautiful and most famous, starts in Tuscany from the deserted and fascinating Lunigiana, crosses Lucca, the custodian of the “Volto Santo”, continues towards Altopascio and goes down to San Gimignano. It reaches Santa Maria della Scala in Siena, one of the oldest European hospitals, where the pilgrims were welcomed before proceeding to Buonconvento and Sant’Antimo in the south of Tuscany.
Tour Highlights
Trekking around Lunigiana and Lucchesia
Visit to Lucca and the “Volto Santo”
Visit to an olive-press followed by olive oil tasting
Visit to the Basilica San Piero a Grado where, according to the tradition, St. Peter arrived in 44 AD
Along the Via Francigena towards San Gimignano
Tasting of the famous Vernaccia wine of San Gimignano
Visit to Siena, the town of St. Catherine
Trekking around Buonconvento
Along the Via Francigena towards Sant’Antimo
Visit to the Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore, the Benedictine Congregation See, with Sodoma’s fresco in one of the cloisters
