One week from today, I fly to Italy to set forth on part one of what I’m dubbing the “Tour d’Italia,” which will lead me across the country twice. This spring, I’ll walk (mostly) south to north, looping down around the heel and then up to the Slovenian border. In the fall, I’ll start on the Swiss border and work my way to Palermo, Sicily. This happens to be a Jubilee year in Rome, so it’s one in which the pilgrimage routes in Italy are receiving added attention and investment, and there will be an even greater swelling of tourists and pilgrims in the Vatican. My focus, though, will mostly be outside of Rome, though I’ll pop in there on a couple of occasions.
Here’s an overview of the first half of the walk (the red line on the map below):
Part 1: The Cammino Materano, Via Ellenica, Matera to Crispiano, 18-21 February
It would make more sense to start this walk from the heel of the boot, but instead I’m kicking things off from the arch. The main reason for that is to visit Matera, one of the oldest towns in Europe. A secondary reason, though, is to be able to walk this section of the Cammino Materano, which passes through some stunning gorges.
The Cammino Materano is a “cultural itinerary.” Spain’s Camino de Santiago has inspired a proliferation of walking routes around the world. Some are full-fledged pilgrimages, while others are built around some other hook or theme. The CM emphasizes the cultural heritage of the region’s Norman-Swabian era (11th-13th centuries), which underscored the area’s significance as a crossroads between England/France/Germany and Greece/Turkey/Holy Land. The CM also highlights the region’s historical legacy as a “peasant culture,” dominated by its rural, agricultural character.
While the Via Ellenica runs from Matera to Alberobello, I’ll only follow it as far as Crispiano, though I’ll loop back later.
Part 2: Freestyling the Western Heel, Crispiano to Santa Maria di Leuca, 22-27 February
As I previously wrote about, my plan had been to follow the Via Jonica branch of the Cammino Materano through this section. Unfortunately, it doesn’t actually exist, beyond the website. So, I’ve mapped out my own approach, mixing together some coastal time (I’m quite excited for Taranto, Porto Cesareo, and Gallipoli) with some interior spots. At one point, my walk overlaps with the Cammino di Don Tonino, a route established in 2020 to commemorate Don Tonino Bello, a priest and bishop from the region. He was known for being an activist for peace, as demonstrated by his participation in the March of 500 pacifists to Sarajevo, when it was under siege in 1992.
The southern tip of Santa Maria di Leuca features the Santuario di Santa Maria de Finibus Terrae, which will make pilgrims on the Camino think of Finisterre. Another end of the world to finish, and the point at which my northward march begins in earnest.
Part 3A: The Via Francigena Sud, Santa Maria di Leuca to Brindisi, 28 February – 4 March
The Via Francigena is the pilgrim road linking Canterbury to Rome, thanks to the record left by Sigeric, Archbishop of Canterbury, whose itinerary became the roadmap for contemporary pilgrims The Via Francigena Sud, meanwhile, is the route that pilgrim would follow from Rome to Bari or Brindisi, ports from which they could continue onward to the Holy Land via ship. I’ll be walking it in reverse, as some contemporary pilgrims do. This first chunk of the route veers inland at times, most notably through Lecce, before veering back to the coast in time for Brindisi.
Part 3B: Via Ellenica Variant, Brindisi to Alberobello to Monopoli, 5-8 March
I’m parting ways with the Via Francigena Sud for a few days here, in order to see Alberobello, which is one of the major highlights of the region, thanks to its trulli.
Part 3C: The Via Francigena Sud, Variante Mare, Monopoli to Monte Sant’Angelo, 9-13 March
It gets a little complicated as you review the tracks heading north from Bari, where I’ll take my first day off, as a couple of different variants pop up, providing options for pilgrims to spend more time on the coast or head inland. My original plan was to stick with the “official” VFS, but I was ultimately persuaded to follow the coast much farther north, in order to visit Monte Sant’Angelo, one of the most beautiful villages in Italy and a pilgrimage site in its own right. This will result in a stretch of longer days, but that still doesn’t compare with the longer stretches in the US, so I can’t complain too much
Part 3D: The Monte Sant’Angelo Francigena, MSA to Troia, 14-16 March
This variant rejoins the official route in Troia. It also overlaps with the Cammino della Pace, a route that runs from Monte Sant’Angelo to L’Aquila. It promotes itself as the “first intercultural and multi-faith path.”
Part 3E: The Via Francigena Sud, Troia to Teano, 17-20 March
This is my last chunk of the Sud, for this trip, before I veer northward onto the Cammino San Benedetto.
Part 4: The Cammino di San Benedetto, Montecassino to Norcia, 21-31 March
Most pilgrims would walk this from Norcia to Montecassino, but I’ll be taking it in reverse. Saint Benedict was born in Norcia. In time, he moved to Subiaco, a stop further along this route, where he established the foundations of what became known as Benedictine Rule in 530. This provided organizing principles for Christian monastic orders. Eventually, he moved onto Montecassino, where he established his own monastery–one of the more spectacular sites along this walk, and in Italy as a whole. That’s the vision behind this route, replicating his journey and life’s work
Part 5: The Via di Francesco, Roma to La Verna, 2-15 April
The first thing you need to understand about the so-called “Saint Francis Way,” is that there are lots of them. Francis covered a lot of ground, and local groups have energetically marked these paths all through the region.
On April 1, I’ll do something different. I’ll catch a bus, traveling from Norcia to Roma. The Benedetto and Francesco overlap in Rieti, so originally I planned to just skip part of each route, transitioning between them at that point, and carrying along entirely on foot. I had the time, though, to add in these extra stages, and it necessitated backtracking to Rome on bus. So I’ll head to the capital, eat some gelato at Frigidarium, and then head back out.
The “southern” branch of the Via di Francesco, between Rome and Assisi, climbing back into the hills past a series of Franciscan sanctuaries. The “northern” branch, carrying on from Assisi to La Verna, is the quintessential half of the route, linking Francis’s home with the place where he received the stigmata.
Part 6: The Cammino di Sant’Antonio, 15 April – 6 May, La Verna to Gemona del Friuli
Originally, I had planned to only follow this route as far north as the Padova area, but the recent development of the last leg, linking Padova with Gemona del Fruili, the oldest Antonine shrine in Italy, caused a change in plans. I’ll pass briefly through NE Tuscany, before then continuing through Emilia-Romagna and the Veneto. The route is quite hilly, passing first through the Apennines and then skirting Alpine foothills at the end.
Part 7: The Cammino Via Flavia*, 7-12 May, Gemona del Friuli to Santuario di Muggia Vecchia
I had some extra days, so I didn’t want to end the walk in Gemona. Instead, I’ll cut southward, following my own made-up route for a couple days (hence the asterisk above), before joining the Via Flavia in Aquileia. The Via Flavia was a Roman road, developed around the Roman colony of Aquileia, and it largely holds to the Adriatic coast, looping around to the Slovenian border. It feels appropriate to go as far as Italy goes on this walk.
If you’re interested in seeing daily write-ups from the road and short videos, I’ll be posting regularly to my Patreon while on the road. Daily pics will show up on my Instagram. In time, most of the writing will work its way here as well.
Photo courtesy of the official site of the Cammino Materano.
