The Via Francigena, sometimes called the Italian Camino, was one of the most important pilgrimage routes in medieval Europe – a 1,900km walk from Canterbury to Rome.  Its name comes from the fact that the route winds its way through France before crossing into Switzerland and over the Great St. Bernard Pass into Italy. It is the historic route followed by Sigeric, Archbishop of Canterbury, in 990 A.D.   On his return journey from Rome, after receiving the “pallium”, Sigeric made a list of the 79 stages of his journey from Rome back to Canterbury.  The rediscovery of Sigeric’s Diary (now in the British Library, London) nearly 1,000 years later in 1985 led to renewed interest and the re-creation of a modern-day pilgrimage route.  In 1994 it was designated a European Cultural Route by the Council of Europe and then in 2005 Romano Prodi committed himself to revitalizing the Italian section from the Great St. Bernard Pass to Rome.  More recently, this development has been taken on board by the Italian government and also the Vatican’s organization for the development of pilgrimages, the Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi (ORP).

My first encounter with the Via Francigena was in 2008 while walking the Via de la Plata from Salamanca to Santiago.  One of our fellow pilgrims, a Dutch Augustinian priest, had walked the Via Francigena from Holland to Rome the previous year. I knew immediately that one day, God willing, I would follow that path – the seed had been planted.  It was the beginning of a long journey of exploration and discovery, firstly through books and blogs, and finally on foot in September 2013 – not from Holland to Rome but from Siena to Rome. The Year of Faith was the final motivating factor that brought the seed to fruition.

Down through history many Irish missionaries and pilgrims would have walked this trail – Blessed Thaddeus McCarthy, Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross died on the Via Francigena in 1492 on his return journey from Rome and is buried in Ivrea which is on Stage 5 from the Great St. Bernard Pass.  St. Columbanus founded the monastery in Bobbio just west of Piacenza which is also on the Via Francigena.  I was also very aware of the similarities between La Via Francigena and the Flight of the Earls in 1607/1608 – the journey by O’Neill and O’Donnell and their entourage from Rathmullan in Donegal bound for La Coruña in north-western Spain. Due to stormy conditions at sea they had to land in France and then went on to Flanders, the nearest Spanish territory at the time. Failing to get back to Spain, the Earls set off for Rome following a parallel route to La Via Francigena crossing the Alps at the St. Gothard Pass.  Their route joined with the Via Francigena down through Piacenza and Parma and then they continued to Rome via the Eastern route whereas the Via Francigena heads towards the western coast heading south to Rome.  The Earls finally entered Rome on 29th April, 1608 through the Porta del Poplo before heading to St. Peter’s and then to the residence that the Pope had put at their disposal.  Their final resting place is in Trastevere in the church of San Pietro de Montorio.

Flight of the Earls Monument, Rathmullen

So, with a deep sense of history we began our pilgrim walk with Mass in the beautiful Cathedral in Siena. We visited various shrines connected with St. Catherine before leaving Siena through the Porta Romano.  Originally the Via Francigena followed the old Roman road, the Via Cassia, all the way to Rome.  Nowadays paths loop to the east and west so there is very little walking on the main road.  We spent some beautiful days walking through the Tuscan countryside through the Val d’Arbia and the Val d’Orcia  – a vast expanse of rolling hills, moonscape-like white clay outcrops as far as the eye could see with the ever-present stately cypress trees on the horizon or flanking the avenues leading to the isolated houses.

Unlike the Camino de Santiago there are still relatively few pilgrims walking the Via Francigena even though numbers are increasing each year – 2,500 pilgrims walked or cycled the Via Francigena in 2012 compared to 186,360 who made the pilgrimage to Santiago the same year.  We missed the camaraderie and sharing with other pilgrims along the way – meeting only a handful throughout the eleven days.  To qualify for the Testimonium (certificate of pilgrimage like the “Compostela”) walkers must come from Acquapendente (151km from Rome) and cyclists from Lucca (375km).  The terrain is also more difficult especially as the only accommodation available is in the little hill villages. Consequently, there is a climb at the end of each stage especially in Tuscany.  Having crossed into Lazio the countryside changes – the terrain is much flatter, apart from the climb to Montefiascone, and the stages are shorter.  We passed through most interesting historic towns e.g  San Quirico d’Orcia, Radicofani, Acquapendente, Bolsena, Montefiascone, Viterbo, Vetralla etc.  Bolsena was celebrating the 750th anniversary of the Eucharistic Miracle in 1263.  The word “conclave” originated in Viterbo when the people of the town locked the cardinals in the Papal Palace as it was taking them so long to elect a Pope – 33 months to elect Pope Gregory X.  We walked by Lake Bolsena for two days and passed various thermal springs and spas in Bagno Vignoni and Bagnaccio.  Accommodation is more easily available in monasteries and convents as one approaches Rome and we really enjoyed our stay with the Benedictine Sisters in Vetralla on Mercy Day.  In the morning we had Mass with the community and there was a special “applauso” for the Irish pilgrims at the end of Mass.

Conclave Hall Viterbo

Our final day’s walk into Rome was very special beginning with Morning Prayer in the Church of the Vision of St. Ignatius in La Storta.  We then proceeded along the Via Cassia and the Via Trionfale until we reached the Monte Mario Park overlooking Rome and our first sight of the Dome of St. Peter’s –this is the Monte de Gozo of the Via Francigena and stands 140m over the city of Rome.  Energised by the sight of our journey’s end we negotiated the zigzag descent through sixteen hairpin bends to the Viale Angelico and on to a packed St. Peter’s Square and the Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi for the final stamp in our pilgrim passports, the reception of the Testimonium and our visit to St. Peter’s – and also our visit to the resting place of the O’Neills and O’Donnells in San Pietro de Montorio.

Cistercian Abey – Abbadai San Salvatore

We had arrived at one journey’s end – it is said that “all paths lead to Rome” but a chance encounter in Abbadia San Salvatore (three days south of Siena) has resulted in an even more exciting journey of exploration. While getting our pilgrim passports stamped in the Cistercian Abbey the sacristan, realising we were Irish, insisted on opening the museum so that we could see one of their prize possessions – a unique reliquary containing relics of St. Columbanus.  This became one of the high points of our pilgrimage – it was a very real connection with our Irish heritage and has led me to delve deeper into the Irish Saints in Italy.  “Columbanus in his own Words” (1974/1992) by Cardinal Tomás O Fiaich reveals the importance of this sixth/seventh century saint who was the first Irish person to have his biography written and also the first Irish person to leave behind a literary corpus.  I rediscovered another book by Cardinal Tomás Ó Fiaich “Gaelscrínte san Eoraip” (1986) (Irish Shrines in Europe) which introduced me to Irish saints who were totally new to me.  This, in turn, led to reading “Six months in the Apennines in search of vestiges of the Irish saints in Italy”(1892) by Margaret Stokes – this book can be downloaded free of charge from the internet.

Reliquary containing relics of St. Columbanus

Margaret Stokes maintains that the missionary system of the Celtic Church was a development of the pilgrimage customs of the early Christians – Peregrinatio pro Christo.  Having set out on pilgrimage to the Holy Land or to visit the tombs of the apostles and martyrs in Rome and having made their pilgrimage these Irish pilgrims returned to found schools and churches where they had seen the need of such – many of these places are in Northern Italy.  An Italian Franciscan, Fra Anselmo M. Tommasini, published a book in 1928 entitled “Irish Saints in Italy”.

Nine of the fourteen saints/blessed mentioned by Tommasini, Stokes and O Fiaich are associated with towns along the northern part of the Via Francigena between Aosta and Lucca –  Ursus is patron of Aosta, Thaddeus McCarthy is venerated in Ivrae, Columbanus and Cummian have strong links with Bobbio and Pavia, Albinus and Dungal were in charge of the Schools of Pavia,  Donatus was Bishop of Fiesole for fifty years and he built a church dedicated to St. Brigid in Piacenza, and Sillan and  Finnian of Moville (San Frediano) are associated with Lucca – San Frediano/Finnian being patron of Lucca. It is hard to imagine that there are 250 parishes in Italy where Irish saints are venerated – Columbanus is patron saint of up to 40 parishes and in Tuscany alone there are 23 parishes under the patronage of St. Finnian (San Frediano).  These early Irish pilgrims/missionaries, “desiring to be pilgrims for Christ”, also spread devotion to St. Patrick and St. Brigid throughout the north of Italy. Reading Stokes and Ó Fiaich one is filled with awe at the legacy left behind by our Irish saints and the way in which they have enriched not only this corner of Italy but so much of Western Europe.

Walking the Via Francigena from the Great St. Bernard Pass to Lucca, and indeed over through France and Switzerland also, is much more than just “a path to Rome”  – for Irish pilgrims it is surely a pilgrimage “in the vestiges of the Irish saints”.

Ann Lenihan rsm
Southern Province