The new guide dedicated to the Via Francigena in Southern Italy is now on sale in Italian bookshops, as well as on the official website of the publisher Terre di Mezzo.
The guide was presented and sold in preview at the Fa’ la cosa giusta! 2022 fair, at FieraMilanoCity, where the EAVF participated from 29 April to 1 May 2022: the fair, now in its eighteenth edition, devotes its attention to sustainable lifestyles and critical and conscious consumption choices, with an entire department specifically focusing on the great walking itineraries of Italy.
Angelofabio Attolico, EAVF’s representative for the Via’s stretch south of Rome and one of the authors of the guidebook, presented the guidebook to the public in the hall, in the company of Gianfranco Lopane, Councillor for Tourism of the Region of Puglia, Roberto Battista, from the Tourism Agency of the Region of Lazio, Rosanna Romano and Felice Casucci from the Region of Campania, and EAVF’s President Massimo Tedeschi. The presentation was moderated by Andrea Mattei, journalist for the national Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper.
This is the first printed guide dedicated to the 930 km of the Via Francigena stretch linking Rome to the Apulian Finis Terrae, Santa Maria di Leuca, crossing territories in Lazio, Campania, Basilicata and the whole length of Puglia. Starting from the Appia Antica Park, the route continues to Terracina, Gaeta, Sessa Aurunca and Benevento, a strategic junction point between the Via Appia and the Via Traiana.
Approaching the Apulian section, pilgrims can take a number of different trails, travelling along the Matera route; arriving in Monte Sant’Angelo on the Gargano peninsula and then the coastal path linking it to Bari; heading towards Brindisi, to reach the ports linking Italy to the Holy Land and from there perhaps continuing walking to Jerusalem; or they can continue their journey along the coast towards Salento to arrive in Santa Maria di Leuca, reaching the end of the ‘Italian heel’, where the Adriatic and Ionian seas meet.
For each stage the guide indicates a detailed map, the altimetry, the points where to stock up on water, indications on the type of terrain on which you walk (dirt or asphalt), information on where to sleep and what to visit, etc. There are also suggestions for some short trips and the key information for the Bradanica route leading to Matera.
The guide is currently only available in Italian and is focused on walking trips, although most of the route, as it is described in the guide, can also be undertaken by bicycle.
Click here to learn more about the new guidebook or to buy a copy.
