Dust off your walking boots, because Italy has just unveiled one of its biggest hiking projects in years. The newly unified Way of St Francis stitches together 1,500km of trails across six regions: Abruzzo, Emilia-Romagna, Lazio, Marche, Tuscany and Umbria.
The route will be linked together through an official pilgrimage network, with all roads eventually converging on Assisi, the hilltop town where St Francis was born and is buried.
The project brings together trails that already existed in various forms, including the 110km stretch from Rimini to the mountain sanctuary of La Verna, where St Francis is said to have received the stigmata. Handily, the routes have been mapped and sorted out by Italy’s national anniversary committee, meaning they are all listed together on the official tourism platform, Italia.it, complete with maps and stage-by-stage itineraries.
Franco Boarelli, president of the association that coordinated the project alongside the government, said unifying the route had been the goal from the start, requiring years of cross-regional cooperation instead of everyone sticking to their own local boundaries. Italy’s Undersecretary of Culture, Pietro Cannella, told euronews that the project was about ‘uniting places, institutions and people around a shared heritage, making culture a tool for national cohesion and international dialogue.’
The launch is part of celebrations marking the eighth centenary of St Francis’s death, and coincides with Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Assisi on Thursday, August 6. The town also hosted the GO! Franciscan Youth Meeting from August 3 to 6, drawing more than 2,500 young people from across Europe for a programme of workshops, prayer and fellowship, capped off with an audience with the Pope himself.
If you fancy tackling it yourself, here’s how it works. Walkers can request a credenziale, or pilgrim’s passport, online before setting off, which gets stamped and dated at various points along the route (different routes have their own separate passports, and there’s even one for your dog too). Complete the final 100km on foot, or 200km by bike, and you’ll be issued with a document proving you made it all the way to St Francis’s tomb.
Fancy tackling a long-distance trail? Here’s ‘s guide to the best hiking trails in Europe.
Or, browse the very best hikes in the world for further inspiration.
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