La Via Francigena - The pilgrimage to Rome

The Via Francigena was the major pilgrimage route to Rome during Medieval times; even today pilgrims travel this route but in far fewer numbers than the Way of St. James.

The route was first documented in the 10th Century when the Archbishop of Canterbury Sigeric the Serious travelled to Rome to see the Pope in order to be consecrated.

The Via Francigena is not a single 'road' in the strict sense.

It comprises a number of possible routes which changed over the centuries as trade and pilgrimage developed.

Depending on the time of year, the political situation and the relative popularity of the shrines of saints along the route, travellers may have taken one of three or four crossings of the Alps and the Apennines.

The Lombards paid for the maintenance and defence of the road as a trading route to the north from Rome, avoiding enemy held cities such as Florence.