On 1 October 2022, Edgar Le Bras set off from Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris with the aim of arriving in Jerusalem. Edgar knows the Via Francigena very well: he worked with us in 2021 as an AEVF intern, preparing the great Road to Rome 2021 march!
He set a goal of 8 months to reach Jerusalem on foot, walking stages of around 25 kilometres per day. Once in Rome, he will continue on the Via Francigena in Southern Italy to Bari, where he will take the boat to Tirana in Albania and continue his expedition following the Via Egnatia through Macedonia, Greece, Turkey and Syria, to finish the last stretch from northern Israel to Jerusalem.
A few days ago, he joined the Via Francigena in Bar-sur-Aube. On 17 October he arrived in Haute-Saône and received a warm welcome in Leffond before arriving in Champlitte, headquarters of the EAVF, the following day. Together with the town hall, we organised a warm welcome for him!
To prepare for the journey, Edgar contacted the municipalities along the route and the network of scouts and guides to which he belongs. EAVF actively supports Edgar’s project as a promoting partner, and invites all municipalities and friend associations along his route to welcome him and organise meetings to support the important motivation of his journey: to highlight the theme of peace between peoples.
You are all invited to join, walk part of the itinerary and get to know Edgar, help him find hospitality and share with him part of this great adventure.
If you would like to follow him and/or walk a few kilometres, do not hesitate to contact him on his social networks!
Joaquin Balibrea, pilgrim by profession. “Chimo” is from the Spanish city of Murcia, and in July 2022 he completed an itinerary of almost 3,000 km that took him from Rome to Finisterre in four months, at an average of 22 km per day. And this was certainly not his first walk: ‘Chimo’ has walked a dozen routes or so, of around 1,000 km each, to reach the same destination over the years: the Tomb of Santiago in the famous cathedral that attracts millions of pilgrims every year. This time, intersecting stretches of the Via Francigena between the Alps and the Via Aurelia with the Spanish Way, Chimo went further to reach Finisterre, believed to be the end of the world in ancient times.
“I started walking 20 years ago out of curiosity and now I can say that I spend more time walking than at home!” he said in a recent interview published in a local magazine. A way of exploring the world, which has become his life: “it’s a much cheaper trip than the plane or the car, depending only on your feet and allowing you to challenge your fears“.
Travelling by foot, as the story of Chimo teaches us, is not just an activity for experienced hikers, but a possibility for anyone wishing to explore the world with their own eyes (and feet). The All Trails app, as a partner of EAVF, was created with the very aim of helping walking “professionals” and novices not to get lost both in the preparation and during the route, providing downloadable maps and information as well as the possibility of joining a community of outdoor activity lovers who share their experiences with tips, photos and travel stories.
The staff of rurallure.eu, with which the EAVF association works to promote cultural heritage along the main European routes, contacted him for an exclusive interview, which you can read here.
May Chimo’s story be an inspiration to all those who would like to embark on a walk but don’t know where to start: good physical preparation, a light but complete backpack (here are our tips) and… all that’s left is to put one foot in front of the other and set off!
On 28 and 29 October in Chianciano Terme (SI) Luca Bruschi, director of the European Association of Vie Francigene, will speak at the Stati Generali del Turismo Italiano to talk about sustainable and responsible tourism and to share the good practices of the Via Francigena.
The Italian Ministry of Tourism is promoting the organisation of the Stati Generali del Turismo (States General of Italian Tourism), the first national technical meeting to discuss with operators and trade associations of the tourism sector. The initiative is configured as the first important moment in the process of elaboration and adoption of the Strategic Plan for Tourism (STP) 2023-2027, a planning and programming tool envisaged by the national legislation to be submitted to the Government for adoption. Within the planning document there is a section dedicated to slow tourism with a focus on cycle tourism, historical trains, food and wine and walking journeys.
This is the context for the Stati Generali del Turismo in Chianciano, attended by representatives of the Ministry of Tourism, institutions, economic and tourism categories, and the world of associations. On 28 October, Luca Bruschi, director of the EAVF, will speak about the experience and good practices along the Via Francigena.
“Walking is not just physical activity, but a way of discovering ourselves or a tool for taking care of our psychophysical well-being. It is a green, responsible tourism, which has no impact on the environment but has a profound effect on local communities and the territories it crosses, often located in rural areas. Walking is a new trend that can also generate a significant economic and social impact, also offering new job opportunities in the sector.
The whole of Italy is a Land of Routes that favour territorial sustainable development policies. Italy already has its own Way of St. James, namely the Via Francigena with its 2,000 national kilometres that attract thousands of pilgrims and hikers from 70 countries around the world‘, Bruschi explained.
The city of Viterbo (Lazio) wonderfully welcomed the international representatives of the European Association of Via Francigena Ways (EAVF) who held the General Assembly within a rich cultural programme.
Two intense days on the Via Francigena took place in Viterbo with great participation by institutional delegates, associations and universities of EAVF’s network. The EAVF General Assembly met again in presence after the event in Canterbury last 27 April: the Mayor of Canterbury (UK), Ben Fitter-Harding, was in the front row at the meeting in Viterbo, confirming the important role of ‘cultural bridge’ that the Via Francigena represents by uniting the four countries involved.
Also from northern Europe, representatives of the Bethune Agglomeration (Hauts-de-France, FR) were present, while from the opposite geographical pole, i.e. the Apulian section in southern Italy, there were representatives of the Puglia Region (Bari) and the Brindisi e le Antiche Strade Association (Brindisi). A long route of 3,200 km through England, France, Switzerland and Italy, which in Viterbo brought together people from all over the European axis of the Via Francigena.
The significant participation in the General Assembly of six vice-presidents is worth mentioning: Tricia Marshall (Municipality of Canterbury, UK), Gaëtan Tornay (Pays du Saint-Bernard, Orsières, CH), Francesco Ferrari (Municipality of Orio Litta, IT), Francesco Gazzetti (Region of Tuscany, IT), Silvio Marino (Region of Lazio, IT) and Aldo Patruno (Region of Puglia, IT).
The Assembly, led by President Massimo Tedeschi, began with greetings from the Mayor of the City of Viterbo Chiara Frontini.
Here are the main points on the agenda of the meeting:
brainstorming on the new strategic plan 2023-2025 of the European Association of Via Francigena Ways, a document which will be created in a participatory way and shared with all members, institutions and associations;
progress of the candidature as UNESCO World Heritage;
main animation activities carried out in these ten months of 2022 along the entire route;
the European Heritage Atlas project along the VF;
the project to promote and develop the accessibility of the Via Francigena in Lazio, supported by the Lazio Region and implemented by EAVF in collaboration with local associations.
During the conversations between members, special attention was paid to the specifics of the route and to accommodation, with reference to the important topic of universal accessibility of the itinerary.
In this context, new members were welcomed, spanning from north to south: Municipalities of Amettes (Pas de Calais, Hautes-de-France, FR), Dampierre-sur-Salon (Haute-Saone, Burgundy-Franche-Comté, FR), Union of Communes Grand Pontarlier (Doubs, Burgundy-Franche-Comté, FR), Clées (Vaud, CH), Aigle (Vaud, CH), Massongex (Valais, CH), Sembrancher (Valais, CH), Fiorano Canavese (Turin, Piedmont, IT), Lessolo (Turin, Piedmont, IT), Castelforte (Latina, Lazio, IT). The total number of EAVF members increased to 216. Three new ‘friend’ associations also joined: Associazione Costiera di Calafuria APS (Livorno, Tuscany, IT), Sezione Club Alpino Italiano di Viterbo (Viterbo, Lazio, IT), Associazione Via Francigena in Tuscia.
Aside the Assembly, numerous cultural events were organised by Viterbo’s municipal administration:
the inauguration of the Pilgrim’s Monument (with the signatures of hundreds of pilgrims from all over the world)
the guided tour of the historic centre, the visit of the underground Viterbo and the Museum of the Knights Templar, and the visit to the botanical garden. In Piazza del Plebiscito, there was a performance by the flag-wavers and musicians of the Centro Storico committee.
Finally, the ‘I Love Francigena thermal by rurAllure‘ walk was organised on Saturday 15 October. A 6-km walk to discover the local section of the route, highlighting the thermal and cultural heritage that characterises Viterbo. The event, which was attended by 30 people, was realised as part of the European ‘rurAllure‘ project (Horizon 2020 programme) involving EAVF.
The next meeting of EAVF’s members is the General Assembly in Calais (Hauts-de-France, FR) in spring 2023.
The Cultural Routes Programme celebrated its 35th anniversary in Chania with three days of interactive sessions, workshops, debates in the presence of 430 international delegates.
The city of Chania, on the Greek island of Crete, hosted the event from 5 to 7 October, which was attended by over 430 delegates: from the Council of Europe to the European Union, from the World Tourism Organisation to UNESCO, from representatives of over 50 European Cultural Routes, certified and non-certified, to representatives of the Ministries of Culture of the countries that are part of the Council of Europe’s Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes.
This year’s theme was ‘Council of Europe Cultural Routes: Safeguarding European Values, Heritage, Dialogue‘.
The European Association of Via Francigena Ways (EAVF) was represented byLuca Bruschi, Director, and Elena Dubinina, head of European projects and international relations.
Luca Bruschi spoke during the plenary session dedicated to ‘Safeguarding Cultural Heritage‘, with a focus on the main challenges for the protection of cultural heritage and sustainable tourism use of the Via Francigena.
Elena Dubinina intervened in the session together with all the representatives of the routes to share the EAVF’s experience within the European project rurAllure (Horizon 2020 programme), which focuses on cultural heritage and museums along the pilgrimage routes.
During the Forum, the EAVF was able to strengthen relationships with the delegates of the cultural routes that have similar themes: Way of St. James of Compostela, Via Romea Germanica, St. Olav, Way of Stevenson, Via Romea Strata (in the process of certification).
It was also an opportunity to meet the representatives of the Ministries of Culture of the countries crossed by the Via Francigena, such as Italy and Switzerland, but also the ministerial representatives of the countries present along the extension of the path towards Jerusalem, following the ancient Via Egnatia: Albania, Greece, Turkey.
The Via Francigena reaffirmed the European values underlying this cultural itinerary, which connects local communities, supports the economy in rural Europe, generates job opportunities for young people, and encourages cultural, interreligious and intergenerational dialogue.
Photo Gallery
EAVF General Assembly, Pavia (Italy) | 20 October 2023
