ItalyUpdate

The Via Francigena del Sud (the Southern Francigena Route), part of the ancient route that took pilgrims from northern Europe down through Italy to Brindisi (Apulia) where they embarked for Jerusalem and the Holy Land, is to be inaugurated on Sunday, 4 th October 2009 at the medieval Cistercian Abbey of Fossanova near Latina (Lazio). The new section, linking Rome to the Frosinone area in southern Lazio, passes through a string of picturesque old towns and villages, as well as the territory of the Old Appian Way Park and the Castelli Romani Park.  During the Middle Ages, the devout followed the Via Francigena to the Holy City of Rome and thence to the Adriatic port in the south of the Italian peninsula.

The Lazio region is to twin with the Spanish region of Galizia in 2010

to mark the holy year of the famous pilgrim's  Cammino of San Juan de Compostela."

  To mark the event, hundreds of people from all over Italy and Europe will walk the new section of the route between the 4 th and 11 th October. The initiative is part of a wider scheme to promote tourism in rural areas