Returning To Rome: Europe's first pilgrims' way to reopen*

By Malcolm Moore in Rome
Last Updated: 2:49am BST 31/07/2007

Chaucer’s Wife of Bath would almost certainly have taken the Via
Francigena to Rome

The ancient road on which pilgrims travelled from Canterbury to Rome
could soon become a vibrant thoroughfare again.

The Via Francigena was first mentioned in the 3rd century and is
Europe's oldest route of pilgrimage. After leaving England, it winds for
roughly 600 miles through Arras, Rheims and Lausanne before reaching
Tuscany and some of Italy's most beautiful landscapes.

The earliest map of the road was made in around 990 by Sigeric the
Serious, the Archbishop of Canterbury who made the pilgrimage to Rome to
receive his pallium, or ecclesiastical vestments.

Chaucer's Wife of Bath would almost certainly have taken the road on her
way to Jerusalem, since pilgrims sailed for the Holy Land from the south
of Italy, after passing through Rome.
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However, the Via Francigena is much less famous than its Spanish
counterpart, the Way of St James, which pilgrims use to visit Santiago
di Compostela. Last year, around 100,000 Catholics registered with the
church in Santiago but only about 8,000 people walked the Via Francigena.

Romano Prodi, the Italian prime minister and a devout Catholic, has
vowed to restore the Via Francigena to its former glory. Before the
arrival of the motorcar, the Francigena, which means "born in France",
was Italy's transport spine. No vehicles now use the Francigena, which
varies in size between wide footpaths and narrow trails, some of which
pass through treacherous mountainous areas.

"The pathways of our ancestors are a great heritage," said Mr Prodi.

"It really makes me angry that we do not have pilgrims walking towards
Rome any longer. To rebuild the great pilgrims' path we do not need
great investments, but heart. I am pressing everyone to make it happen."
At the moment, around eight per cent of the Via Francigena is dangerous
to walk on, said Massimo Tedeschi, the president of the European
Association of the Via Francigena.

However, he said the Italian government had set aside the bulk of a £7
million budget for ancient roads to restore the Francigena.

He said that restoration on the most damaged parts should be under way
by next year and that a team of specialists was travelling the road to
assess the damage.

Although congregations are thinning out in churches across Europe, the
idea of a pilgrimage has captured the public imagination in recent years
and there has been a striking increase in the number of pilgrims.

Catholics who visit Santiago, Rome or Jerusalem are said to win the
right to ask forgiveness from all sins. Traditionally, pilgrims should
carry a shell to Santiago, a key for St Peter to Rome and a cross to
Jerusalem.

The Vatican said the appeal of a pilgrimage was to be found in the
journey itself. For the early pilgrims, a walk across Europe was the
only form of tourism available.

The Holy See, which has promoted pilgrimages heavily since the papacy of
John Paul II, has its own travel agency, the Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi.

The Vatican said the act of pilgrimage was an example of Europe's
Christian roots and that the first pilgrims helped to create the idea of
a unified Europe, rather than a collection of squabbling nation states.