It was called "via Agrippa" at the beginning and then became known as Sigerico's road, Sigeric being the one who used it for going from Canterbury to Rome about 1000 years ago.

Sigeric left notes of his journey and those notes evolved into the map of the itinerary who was to become the "Via Francigena", the road of the pilgrim going to Rome.

The "Via Francigena" followed different itineraries: if we want to mention the most notable towns encountered we could cite Calais, Arras, Reims, Langres, Besancon, Pontarlier, Lausanne, Bourg St.Maurice, the alpine pass of the Gran S.Bernardo, Aosta, Vercelli, Piacenza, Parma, the different passes on the Appennines, the Garfagnana valley, Fucecchio and the Arno plain, S.Gimignano and the Val d'Elsa valley, Siena, the different itineraries south of Siena and then the Tuscia and Rome .

Why did we create this initiative.

This road brought wealth for hundreds of years along her itinerary:

Cultural wealth for the exchanges which were generated:

Architectural wealth for the buildings whose construction it induced:

Wealth for the artistic creations which were commissioned:

Wealth of the gastronomy because, once trespassed the stage of feeding oneself in order to survive, the attention went to the elaborate cooking skills:

Wealth of the food products of the regions through which the road went because the presence of guests facilitated the appreciation of the same:

All these endeavors are according to us an important part of the tissue of Europe culture and it would be criminal not to honor in the present the effort of many past generations, upholding the same torch.

Thinking to our guest we imagined a warm hospitality, like the one the pilgrim hoped to find along his journey, coupled with the knowledge of the food specialties of the local environment and the acknowledgment of the farmers, craftsmen and restaurateurs that make it possible.

Thinking to the participants of this initiative we have the preoccupation to recognize their effort and to facilitate their access to the final consumers, as their products deserve.

All the attention of this world in selecting our interlocutors will be of no use if our guests will remain silent: we don't believe in organizations without controls nor in occasional external controls: we have faith in the expression of the concerned persons, our guests: let us know if you were satisfied or not and we engage ourselves never to let your critic or appreciation without consequences.

If you will not let us know about your satisfaction, you will have deprived yourself of the base of the warranty of your satisfaction.

Riccardo Gorini