Author: Redazione AEVF

Just a few words about Canterbury and the opportunities related to the promotion of the Via Francigena  with Mrs Jean Law, Deputy Leader, Canterbury City Council

Canterbury is a city with a rich past demonstrated by the many historic buildings in our centre and includes Canterbury Cathedral which has been there for over 1400 years and the medieval Westgate which has been in use since 1349 and is the largest surviving city gate in England. We are proud hosts of the zero stone that marks the beginning (or end depending upon where one starts!) of the Via Francigena. The vibrant present is exemplified by the construction of the new Marlowe theatre – a contemporary building that compliments the bold building projects of historic times. Canterbury’s promising future is reflected in the ongoing growth of the local economy – especially in the higher education sector. And over the next couple of years the city council will have invested more to improve and enhance the city’s public realm and facilities through the restoration and improvement of the riverside and the Westgate Garden Park. These attractions are valued by both our community and visitors alike.

The visitor economy is important to all of our municipal area and is supporting over 8,000 jobs. With nearly seven million visitors; tourism contributes more than £459m (565m euros) to the local economy each year. The city council is supporting and developing the visitor economy and tourism offer by improving the services and facilites for the community, visitors and businesses both financially and socially. And we are growing the visitor economy in a sustainable way.

We are promoting the area as an all year around destination – we are more than a place just for summer visits. We use the Canterbury brand to encourage visitors to explore all we have to offer throughout the year and throughout the area – our coast, countryside and city.

And so, the opportunity to participate in work to promote the Via Francigena route and the towns, heritage, culture and people along its way not only helps Canterbury grow its economy. It also promotes understanding and enrichment beyond our religious, societal and national differences. Telling history through the fascinating stories of Europe’s past is really one of the best ways of teaching history and of showing that Europe is indeed created from all its differences, from exchanges, from travel and “crossing paths“.

Speech of Velia Coffey, Deputy Chief Executive Canterbury City Council (member of the EAVF since 2005) on the occasion of the meeting in Rome that took place on 8 november, at Abbazia delle Tre Fontane. Velia Coffey have spoken about Canterbury’s connection with and experience of the Via Francigena and its importance to Canterbury and beyond.

Canterbury City Council is actively working to improve the awareness and understanding of the Via Francigena, as well as its significance and potential to enhance Europe’s cultural heritage and tourism offer.

Although only 30 kilometres of the route are in the United Kingdom, and just 10 kilometres in the Canterbury area, we nevertheless recognise our city’s significance as the both start and finish of Sigeric’s route, and its status as a designated Cultural Route of the Council of Europe.

Cultural tourism has become a source of social and economic development all over the world and our route must tap in on this great potential and this popularity, to offer authentic, sustainable, enjoyable leisure time to visitors, while bringing satisfaction and pride to the populations involved and encouraging their participation.

The local effort we have taken to play our part includes:

Signposting the route – we worked with the region (Kent County Council) to signpost the walking route from the zero stone in Canterbury cathedral to the town of Dover at the coast.

Improving Canterbury council’s visitor information service – to better welcome Via, Camino and other pilgrims and visitors to our historic city and surroundings. Visitor information services are now provided at our renowned Beaney House of Art and Knowledge in the centre of Canterbury. We can help visitors enjoy a better experience in the city by providing itineraries that take in all the major heritage sights and attractions in the city and the surrounding towns and villages. We also work closely with cathedral staff to ensure that those needing a spiritual welcome receive that too. We have launched our Visit Canterbury website and app.

Hosting a special event to mark the final stage of the Via Francigena programme in the Per Viam cultural routes project, 2012. With the help of Kent Ramblers, we organised a special walk along the Via, welcomed the local community to a presentation at the Beaney and set up a special information point at the annual Canterbury food and drink festival.

We are making regular contributions to the EAVF’s magazine and are helping to encourage operators to develop tourism packages relating to the Via and other pilgrims routes

We are working with the Visit Kent and the Green Pilgrimage Network at a local and international level to improve signage, accommodation and information for pilgrims and visitors.

Last but not least we are proud to collaborate with Alessandro Barelli and his colleagues to produce the Francigena Opera Omnia Canterbury volume and DVD. The work was completed and presented, with much acclaim at Canterbury’s Guildhall and was attended by representatives of Montefiascone Lions Club, the Dean of Canterbury Cathedral, as well as the Lord Mayor and Chief Executive of the council. We also received letters of support from the Regione Lazio and Provincia di Viterbo. The book sales are steady and are enjoyed by many of our visitors.

Over the coming months and years we are looking forward to helping both Historia and the European Association of the Via Francigena in further projects to improve the awareness and understanding of the Via and its social, cultural and economic potential.

The next meeting of the European Committee for Technical Interregional Coordination of the Via Francigena will take place in Reims, on Friday 12 December.  A new page focused on this Committee and related activities, programmes, documents and meetings is available on the EAVF website

In 2012 in the framework of the European project “PER VIAM” the European Association of the Vie Francigene (EAVF) in cooperation with Tuscany Region and Champagne-Ardenne Region started fostering a coordinated dialogue on a European scale among the 14 European regions of the Council of Europe cultural route of the Via Francigena, from Canterbury to Rome (Kent; Nord-Pas-de-Calais; Picardy; Champagne-Ardenne; Franche-Comté; Vaud; Valais; Aosta Valley; Piedmont; Lombardy; Emilia-Romagna; Liguria; Tuscany; Lazio). Moreover the 4 Italian regions south of Rome (Campania; Molise; Basilicata; Puglia) were also included in this process, in view of the  application for the extension of the Council of Europe certification to the section Rome-Apulia (towards Jerusalem).

Objectives of the ECTIC and main steps undertaken. The Committee aims to facilitate coordinated and effective actions for the development of the route in each territory through a common European approach, the exchange of good practices, the achievement of shared solutions about the implementation of safety measures, the signage, hospitality and accommodation, joint events, coordinated information and communication, which will constitute the Euro Master Plan of the Via Francigena while assuring the transnational continuity necessary to keep the Council of Europe cultural route mention.

A Memorandum of Understanding among the European Regions of the Via Francigena was agreed  on the occasion of two interregional meetings, which took place in Florence (IT), in May 18th 2012 and in Châlons-en-Champagne (FR) in January 24th 2013. This Memorandum delineates the main axes of cooperation among the European regions for the full accessibility of the Via Francigena.

The European Committee for Technical Interregional Coordination was consequently created and it is comprised of one or two delegates of each Region that subscribed to the Interregional Memorandum of Understanding.

The meeting in Foggia (IT) in October 18th 2013 kicked off the works of the Committee, while the meetings in Brussels (BE) in December 13th 2013 and in Milan (IT) in June 27th 2014 outlined the Action Plan 2014 and established the working methodology for its realization, by means of three thematic working groups on Path, Accommodation and Services, Communication and Promotion.

Il prossimo incontro è previsto a Reims, il 13 dicembre, in occasione della presentazione della rivista “Via Francigena and the Pilgrimage Ways”.

E’ possibile trovare maggiori informazioni sulla piattaforma online all’interno del sito AEVF, il quale raccoglie documentazione, piano delle attività, protocollo di intenti e sintesi dei lavori fin qui svolti

The ECTIC convene twice a year.
More information on the EAVF Committee webpage