Author: Redazione AEVF

On 4 March 2021, the French Ministry of Culture invited the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe (ICCE) to participate in a meeting chaired by the director of the UNESCO Culture and World Heritage department, Bruno Favel, and the head of the Culture and Tourism department, Nicolas Monquaut.

The goal of the meeting was to define the development strategies for the Council of Europe’s cultural routes through France. France is one of the countries with the largest number of certified routes, which represents an important resource for the development and attractiveness of the territories.

The EAVF was represented at this meeting by its vice-president, Martine Gautheron, and the person in charge of the development of the Via Francigena in France and Switzerland, Jacques Chevin.

The meeting was a good opportunity to point out the main crossings of the Via Francigena with other cultural routes such as the cities of Reims, Arras, Besançon, which are crossed by the Via Francigena, the Via d’Artagnan, and the Via Charlemagne.

After the big success of last year, the European Association of Via Francigena ways has decided to organize the second edition of the competition, which is open to public administrations, associations, tourist accommodations, and individual enthusiasts along the entire route of the Francigena.

The initiative celebrates the innovative management of cultural heritage by rewarding forward-looking cultural projects along the 3200 km long Via Francigena from Canterbury to Santa Maria di Leuca. The award aims to improve the visibility of the European cultural route and promote networking between the EAVF members and the territories crossed by the route.

Anything that can be considered a “good practice” is eligible: weekend walks, moments of discussion and reflection during conferences, actions involving schools, festivals, meetings, tastings to promote the food and wine of the Francigena territories, and much more. There are no limits to good examples!

Last year, the three winning “Good Practices 2019” were awarded with the “wooden pilgrim”, a handmade statue by Artio Design:

• “Grand Prix” awarded to the “Passeggiate nella storia”: re-enactment walks from Abbadia a Isola to the walls of Monteriggioni, organised by the Associazione L’Agresto with the support of the Tourism Office of the Municipality of Monteriggioni (Tuscany).
• Special Mention for Festival de Besançon/Mountfaucon: “Festival Européen de La Via Francigena”, between the Canton of Vaud (CH) and the Département du Doubs (FR), organised by the “Association Musique e Perspectives” in the summer period.
• Special mention for the “enhancement of the Vie Francigene del Sud” project, organised by the Association ITINERA Onlus and Lions District 108 AB. This project consists of a series of animation events involving schools, citizens, and museum structures in the Apulian territory following the extension of the Southern Via Francigena to Cultural Route of Europe.

The information gathered through the Good Practices competition will also be used to create a database containing all the beautiful and important initiatives taking place along the Via Francigena. This database will be made available to all members of the EAVF network.
The Via Francigena depends on the territories it crosses and the people who take care of it along the entire itinerary, which is why it is so important to us to give more visibility to everybody involved in these initiatives.

Eligible practices must have been active throughout 2020. In order to register, please click here. Registrations are open until 19 March 2021.

A “Via Francigena” rose was created in the city of Calais supported by the Association for the Enhancement of the Architectural Heritage of Calais (AMVPAC). The rose is the subject of a subscription, which sales will be used to renovate and enhance the Calais Notre-Dame church and the surrounding gardens.

Calais, the first outpost of the Via Francigena in France, has been the EAVF member since 2018. The municipality has been active in the work of the association, contributing to the development of the route in France and beyond.

In the Calais area the Via Francigena winds along a beautiful path that joins the North Sea and immerses itself in nature, passing through Sangatte and other picturesque villages. The fine sand, with its different colours changing with the seasons, becomes the leitmotif of this exciting “maritime” stage.

The rose Via Francigena was created in 2018 by rose breeders Dominique Massad and Peter Beales. It comes from a family of a wild rose “rosa persica” discovered in 1784 during a long journey of the botanist and explorer André Michaux, in the Zagros mountains, between Iran and Iraq.

A rose in yellow tones, an age-old colour for warm feelings of friendship of optimism and wisdom, and in white tones to express purity and respect, created to pay homage to new beginnings and to express hope for the to come up. A rose that would become an attribute of all those who undertake a journey whether they are pilgrims, hikers or tourists.

The rose will be available for sale in June 2021. The prices vary between 28€ and 30€.

You can buy them (or order them) directly from Opal’fleurs (Place d’Armes), the shop has a small stock of rose stems and will be able to advise you on the maintenance of your plant.

You can also fill out an order form and send it directly to AMVPAC’s head office.

For more information (photos, prices, descriptions…) you will find the PDF link below.

The European Association of the Via Francigena ways (EAVF) teams up with the European Cultural Tourism Network (ECTN), Europa Nostra and the Network of European Regions for Competitive and Sustainable Tourism (NECSTouR) to launch a new category of the award “Destination of Sustainable Cultural Tourism 2021”.

This Award, organised since 2014 by ECTN, enhances the visibility of European cultural tourism destinations, creates a platform for sharing experiences and knowledge. The 2021 edition of the Award is titled “Regenerating European tourism through Culture, Heritage and Creativity”.

The new category “Walking Tourism and Slow Travel – Synergies with Cultural Tourism”, hosted by the EAVF, praises initiatives focused on developing walking tourism routes, destinations and products with a special focus on sustainability, ethics and responsible travel.

Walking, the most common mode of travel, allows us to closer discover places and lets us stay fit and active. Walking tourism provides a unique opportunity to experience the destination and learn about its culture and heritage. While walking, ramblers get to interact with local people, live their traditions and reconnect with nature. Being the most sustainable way of travelling with almost zero carbon imprint, walking tourism is also affordable, welcoming everyone en route to a slow discovery outside of overcrowded tourist attractions. 

Requiring relatively low financial resources, walking tourism can be developed almost everywhere from local to pan European level. Creating a network of stakeholders and communities along the walking route, a slow discovery project brings a significant number of economic, social and cultural benefits to the territory.   

The year 2021 is specially marked by slow travel along the routes thanks to the Camino de Santiago Holy Year and the walking initiative “Road to Rome 2021” by the European Association of the Via Francigena ways. The award category is also of particular importance in the current climate of health emergency as the interest for slow travel along the routes is increasingly growing. 

Award winners will be announced at the Ceremony to be held during the 14th International Conference for Cultural Tourism on the theme of “Regenerating European tourism through Culture, Heritage and Creativity”, organised by ETCN on 20-23 October 2021 in Athens, Greece.
 
How to apply?
The Application form and the required Declaration can be downloaded in Word format from the website:
www.culturaltourism-network.eu/award-2021.html. The Application form and the Declaration together should be sent by e-mail to  awards@culturaltourism-net.eu by 1 June 2021.
 
Awards Jury
The Awards Jury will be composed of experts from several European countries, appointed by ECTN, Europa Nostra, the European Travel Commission, NECSTouR, CTN, Via Francigena Cultural Route.
 
The EAVF encourages all networks’ members, stakeholders and partners to apply for the award to praise their achievements along the Via Francigena!

District 108L Lions Club International is at the front line when it come to promoting peace, and the Via Francigena as Cultural Route of the Council of Europe represents the values of peace, respect, dialogue, democracy, and inclusion.

In District 108L (Umbria, Lazio, and Sardinia) the Via Francigena officially crosses through territories located within the region of Lazio and, in this regard, the district lions officer Sara Fresi has created a historical document entitled “Territories of Lazio crossed by the Via Francigena”. This document is a useful contribution for all those who wish to travel the Via Francigena and discover its picturesque landscapes and historical, cultural, monumental beauties. Following is the incipit of the document:

Territories of Lazio crossed by the Via Francigena, by Sara Fresi

In the 7th century the Longobards penetrated the Italian territory, occupying part of the peninsula at that time disputed with the Byzantines. They wanted to connect the Kingdom of Pavia with the southern duchies by means of a safe road across the Apennines, passing through the Cisa Pass: its name in ancient times was Mons Langobardorum, later called Via di Monte Bardone. It was basically a group of roads connected by consular and dirt roads. When the Franks took over in the Carolingian era, the Via di Monte Bardone changed its name to Via Francigena, or “road originating from France”.

Traffic along this route increased and, over the centuries, the road established itself as the main route linking northern and southern Europe, used by masses of pilgrims as well as merchants and armies. It also connected the three ‘Peregrinationes Maiores‘: Santiago de Compostela, the tomb of the Apostle Peter and the Holy Land. The European Network of the Vie Francigene is a legacy linking the present day to the cultural identities of the old continent.

A millenary route that crosses several European countries: England, France, Switzerland, and Italy. The Via Francigena in Italy crosses six regions: Valle d’Aosta, Piedmont, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany and Lazio. The southern section of the Via Francigena, called the Via Francigena of the South, is a route of approximately 900 km that crosses five regions: Lazio, Campania, Basilicata, Molise, and Puglia. The stretch through the Lazio region is approximately 420 km long.

The whole document (in Italian) can be consulted by clicking here.

Saint Maurice, a small municipality in the Canton of Valais with great strategic importance, is located along the Swiss stretch of the Via Francigena, exactly halfway along the route followed by archbishop Sigeric on his journey to Rome. The European Association of Via Francigena Ways is incredibly happy to enrich its network with such an important institutional member, therefore we warmly welcome Saint Maurice and its representatives!

Saint Maurice is situated along the 51st stage of Sigeric’s itinerary and in Roman times was called Agaunum. It was located at a bottleneck formed by the Rhone river, thus taking on a role of great strategic importance. The famous Theban legion was stationed here, led by Maurice and exterminated at this location in the 3rd century for refusing to swear an oath to the gods before the battle because they had converted to Christianity. The martyrdom of St. Maurice and the legion turned ancient Agaunum into an important pilgrimage site along the Via Francigena.

The Abbey of Saint Maurice was founded on the tomb of the martyrs in 515 by Sigismund, son of the Burgundian king. From that moment the Abbey played an important role, becoming the centre of veneration of the martyrs and the main abbey in the Burgundian kingdom, as well as a pilgrimage destination. The Abbey of Saint Maurice thus became the oldest Christian monastery in the West and has been operative uninterruptedly since its foundation. Bearing witness to this past are the commemoration of Saint Maurice every 22 September and the Laus perennis, the perpetual prayer of the canons at the tomb of the martyrs, a custom that has continued for 1500 years.

Even today, Saint Maurice is the seat of ecclesiastical institutions and is known for its basilica and its church treasure, which contains rare masterpieces of sacred goldsmith’s art. Wars, fires, and falling rocks have repeatedly destroyed the funerary oratories, churches, and monastic buildings built in the 4th century at the foot of the cliff overlooking the site. The church was destroyed in 574 during a Lombard raid, but was rebuilt and enlarged based on the same floor plan under St. Gontrand (561-592). Numerous reconstruction phases and extensions followed.

The Trésor de l’Abbaye, one of the richest in Europe, consists mainly of reliquaries, including for example “St Martin’s Vase” and Theuderic’s casket both dating back to the 7th century A.D., as well as Charlemagne’s aquamanile from the 9th century and the so-called “bag of Saints Innocent and Candide” from the 12th century.

This small jewel of nature, art, and history has been a valuable part of the Via Francigena over the past centuries and now hand-in-hand with EAVF will continue to amaze pilgrims and visitors alike in the decades to come!

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

– The Abbey of Saint Maurice: 1500 years of uninterrupted existence

– The Castle of Saint Maurice

– Travel diary. The EAVF staff on the Aigle – Saint – Maurice stage

– Travel diary. The EAVF staff on the Saint Maurice – Martigny stage

– Technical information about Via Francigena Switzerland stage 07 Aigle – Saint Maurice

– Technical information about Via Francigena Switzerland stage 08 Saint Maurice – Martigny

In these difficult and restricted times of the pandemic many of us yearn for better times and the possibility to travel. This 4-part lecture series, taking place from 27 February to 2 March, will give participants a taste of what travelling along the Via Francigena in Italy will feel like once we get back on (the) track.

Partly recorded in different locations along the route, this virtual journey will trace the Via Francigena through Italy in four stages, from the spectacular Great St Bernard Pass in the Alps across seven regions of extraordinary cultural and geographical diversity, eventually reaching the Eternal City.

Cultural historian Kate Bolton-Porciatti will discuss its history and its connections to Lombard and Roman trade routes, and she considers why – for over a millennium – pilgrims and hikers have been drawn to explore it. We’ll listen to accounts of pilgrims and monks from the Middle Ages, including the famous writings of the Archbishop of Canterbury Sigeric who walked the entire route in 990 AD, as well as more recent writings and reflections.

We’ll follow the Via from the snow-capped mountains, alpine meadows, and river valleys of Aosta and Piedmont in northern Italy, through the misty flooded fields and emerald rice paddies of the Po Valley. Crossing the mountains and vine-clad hills of Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany, we reach the volcanic terrain around Monte Amiata, and then pass glittering Lake Bolsena to the wilder landscapes of Lazio. We’ll pause at abbeys, rural churches, roadside shrines, and ancient hospices; we’ll visit medieval castles and fortified ‘borghi’, as well as some of Italy’s historic towns and cities. Finally, we’ll sample some of the typical foods that characterize the different regions, from Alpine to Mediterranean traditions.

The four lectures will take place in the English language and will also offer practical advice for anyone considering walking, biking, or horse-back riding along the Via Francigena, as well as suggestions of where to join short stretches of it by car or public transport.

About the lecturer

Kate Bolton-Porciatti is a professor of Italian cultural history and music at the Istituto Lorenzo de’ Medici in Florence, where she teaches BA and MA courses in the humanities. She also lectures at the British Institute, Florence, and at the Chigiana Music Academy in Siena. Kate has published extensively as an academic and a journalist; she is a music critic for BBC Music and a travel writer for The Daily Telegraph, UK. Before moving to Italy permanently in 2005, she was a senior producer and broadcaster for BBC Arts & Classical Music in London and has won prestigious Jerusalem and Sony Awards for her programs. She did her M.Phil. thesis in Italy, exploring the musical culture of early Renaissance Florence.

For more information and subscriptions: https://conversations.contexttravel.com/products/via-francigena-journey