21.09.2016
The Via Francigena: a wonderful legacy for everybody
Between the end of the first century and the beginning of the second, the pilgrimage gradually took on historical and religious contours of considerable importance. Reaching Jerusalem, Santiago de Compostela and Rome represented a goal that should be achieved at any cost. That was how the Via Francigena became, ideally and physically, one of the greatest paths of faith. The pilgrims coming from the north were walking along the Via to get to Rome, and then continue along the Via Appia in the direction of Apulia, to board towards the Holy Land. Instead, the Italians that were aiming to Santiago would travel along the same road, but in the opposite direction, to reach Luni, where the ships sailing to the French ports were waiting to take them to destination. It was, therefore, thanks to the pilgrimage that the Via Francigena became a way of uniting peoples and places of Europe during the Middle Ages.
Today, this extraordinarily scenic route is a crucial point of cycling tourism: the way people is following it has changed, yet the Via Francigena is still one of the most important "steps" of our
territory. Even today, the most widely used map of the route is the one of an ancient and illustrious pious man, the Sigerico abbot.
Taking the Via by bicycle, in a world that moves too fast and does not leave any more space to the soul, is the best way to regain knowledge of ourselves and of the territory. While pedaling, we can imagine the ancient and magical structure of that road. Using our imagination, we may also hear the murmur of the pilgrims, astonished in front of the beauty of the landscape.
Surely, we know many of the masterpieces of the Roman era resisting on the Via Francigena, but those traveling by bicycle will meet them one after another, realizing the importance that the Via had in the formation of the meaning of "united people".
As the path unfolds, through olive groves, vineyards and the sea in the Salento area, we find the ancient Masseria Capoforte, a structure that survived through the centuries, was restored and is now used to continue the old "modus" of the production of fine wines that respect the rituals and the tradition of the ancient times.
