TRAVELLING TO THE EAST OF THE VIA FRANCIGENA. THROUGH ART, CULTURES AND HISTORY

The Via Francigena, a pilgrimage route and a cultural itinerary, represents an opportunity to develop communication between different cultures and re-appropriate rural areas, enabling the rediscovery of ancient traditions and local products and encouraging the rebirth of remote and/or marginal areas. As it unfolds, the Via Francigena promotes the development of the regions it passes through, highlighting or reawakening important urban and rural contexts – settlements large and small – whose artistic and architectural heritage (churches, shrines, monasteries, hostels and fortresses) have acquired over time a profound symbolic value, suffusing the surrounding landscape with a distinctive cultural identity.