The project “The Via Francigena in Lombardy towards the Jubilee 2025” has been launched, made possible by the contribution of the Lombardy Region and supported by the Province of Pavia, the Province of Lodi, and the Municipality of Orio Litta. The aim is to enhance the Lombard section of the Via Francigena. This cultural route, which crosses Europe from Canterbury to Rome and continues to the ports of Puglia, spans the Lombardy region between the provinces of Pavia and Lodi, covering about 150 km divided into five stages. After crossing alpine and hilly landscapes, the Lombard Francigena offers flat landscapes among rice fields, rivers, and countryside, with routes suitable for everyone, both walkers and cyclists.
The collaboration stems from the common desire to meet the needs of pilgrims who will walk the ancient route to Rome in 2025 for the Jubilee. Among the planned initiatives is the improvement of signage in the Province of Lodi, in compliance with the Signage Handbook approved by EAVF and the regions crossed by the Francigena. This project adds to the Pavia section already completed in 2022 in collaboration with the Province of Pavia. Training sessions are also planned for public and private entities in the involved provinces, aimed at promoting the route, improving hospitality, enhancing services, and valuing the cultural heritage along the way.
Informational materials will be created for pilgrims, who will be able to consult maps and brochures containing technical details of the stages and points of historical interest. The partnership also includes the creation of a “Guide to Accessibility on the Via Francigena,” developed with experts and associations dealing with disability along the routes, with the aim of making the path increasingly inclusive. Additionally, the Via Francigena magazine plans a special feature dedicated to the Lombardy Region, to be presented in December 2024. “EAVF strengthens its collaboration with the Lombardy Region, which I remind you was the first European region to join the association twenty years ago,” comments AEVF President Francesco Ferrari. “This contribution represents an important institutional attention that emphasizes the Francigena route in the provinces of Pavia and Lodi, with particular focus on signage, training, and accessibility. I thank the Lombardy Region for its ongoing commitment to the development of the Via Francigena and for its trust in EAVF, a network that now involves 244 local authorities and regions at the European level.”
The project activities, in the year of the 30th anniversary of the Via Francigena’s certification as a Cultural Route of the Council of Europe (1994-2024), aim to further structure the route and provide useful tools in preparation for the Jubilee Year 2025. The project also fits into the context of the UNESCO candidacy of the Via Francigena and involves all the municipalities crossed by the route in Lombardy.
“We are proud to support the project ‘The Via Francigena in Lombardy towards the Jubilee 2025’, which offers an important opportunity to enhance the cultural heritage of our territory,” comments Lombardy Region Councillor Francesca Caruso. “This historic route not only represents a link between tradition and spirituality but also promotes local economic development. We are committed to making the route accessible to everyone, improving signage, and offering adequate informational tools. Thanks to the collaboration between the involved entities, we are confident we can best welcome pilgrims in 2025, offering an inclusive and meaningful experience for all.”
“As one of the founding members of the Association, the Province of Lodi has been supporting and collaborating in all initiatives that enhance the Via Francigena route in its territory for over twenty years, and in this project, it has also decided to play an active role in involving public and private entities, both through a new mapping of signage on the historic route and through training and updating courses to be held next autumn”, says the President of the Province of Lodi Fabrizio Santantonio.
“I am proud to be able to continue supporting this project, started some time ago by my predecessor,” comments the Mayor of Orio Litta Alessandro Ciusani. “For me, it’s like boarding a moving train, but I am happy to see that it is a locomotive heading at full speed towards the goal. With the Jubilee approaching, it is more important than ever to help today’s travelers walk the path, and this also brings opportunities for economic and cultural development for the territory: for this reason, it is essential to network administrations and private entities as the project strives to do.”
“I extend my congratulations to the European Association of the Via Francigena ways for funding the project ‘The Via Francigena in Lombardy towards the Jubilee 2025’, which includes a substantial program of training, information, dissemination, and assistance to pilgrims, with particular attention to accessibility for people with disabilities,” adds the President of the Province of Pavia Giovanni Palli. “The Province of Pavia is actively involved in the process of developing and utilizing the Via Francigena in its territory, involving new entities that can contribute to spreading knowledge and increasing local hospitality, and therefore will participate with conviction, contributing to data collection and information and facilitating the meeting of the target groups of the project activities.”
