The Leader of Canterbury  City Council, Robert Thomas, will attend the the European Association of Via Francigena Ways (EAVF) General Assembly scheduled for 18th October in Bari, Puglia.

The presence of the leader of the zero-km city of the Francigena is particularly significant and symbolic. Representatives of the communities north and south of the route will meet in Bari; it will be a moment of historical and symbolic significance to support the extention of the certification of “Cultural Route of the Council of Europe” to the Southern Francigena. 

“The confirmation that Mr. Robert Thomas, new leader of Canterbury City Council, will participate in the General Assembly of Bari fills us with grerat satisfaction – states the EAVF president, Massimo Tedeschi –  It’s been several years since the Leader of the City Council personally attended in the General Assembly. The renewed presence of Canterbury in the association life of the VF is very important to us as it represents an essential cultural and linguistic component. A great cultural axis which unites North and South Europe transversely or, to put it in the words of Le Goff, a great bridge of culture that unites Latin Europe and Anglo-Saxon Europe”.

This collaboration shows the attention of the English towards the Francigena following the meeting that took place between the EAVF president, Tedeschi, and the Leader of Canterbury City Council, Thomas, on 27th August. On that occasion, the leader confirmed his interest in developing the Via Francigena and in the UNESCO candidacy project. Not only that, their meeting in Kentish city opened the door for an EAVF  General Gssembly in Canterbury in spring 2020, 15 years after the city joined the European Association of Via Francigena Ways.