Every year, hundreds of thousands of people hike along the Camino de Santiago following the yellow arrows, which indicate the way to Compostela. However, those who want to walk in the other direction find it difficult with no signposts. 

Movimento Lento, the association which for years has worked towards the promotion of the route on foot and by bike, has launched SantiaGoToRome, an innovative project which will allow hikers to walk “the wrong way” along the Spanish route, encouraging them to continue through France, over the alps to Rome along a marvellous route: the Via Francigena. 

To do just this, Sara, a young member of Movimento Lento, left 20th March from Muxia, on the Atlantic Ocean, for a long hike “in a tenacious and backwards direction”. She will travel for at least five weeks along the Spanish tract of the Camino de Santiago, and will place over 3000 adhesive “SantiaGoToRome” signs as she goes, which will mark the road to Rome.

In the meantime, Movimento Lento has launched a collection of funds on the Ulule platform, to support the project and develop an app which allows orientation travelling east through Spain and France, to the beginning of the Via to Rome. 

“We don’t have the ability to install complete and perfect signage”, explains Alberto Conte, president of Movimento Lento, “but we want to inform the pilgrims which crowd to route that they could choose Italy for their next journey. The Via Francigena is a stunning route but still little known to the east, there isn’t an easier way to promote it than to inform those who, having completed the Camino de Santiago, are looking for a new route and new target.” The European Association of the Vie Francigene is a main partner of a project, which could bring thousands of new travellers to Italy. 

Sara’s journey will be documented daily on the project Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/santiagotorome/,

To support the project please visit: the Ulule platform: https://it.ulule.com/santiagotorome/ , the official site: www.santiagotorome.org.

Watch the video presenting the project