SIENA. On Wednesday 19 June the new issue of the magazine “Via Francigena and the European Cultural Routes” in Siena, at Santa Maria della Scala in Piazza Duomo. L’edition 57 of the trilingual magazine (house organ of the AEVF), which will soon be available on the website www.rivistaviafrancigena.it, includes a special focus on Siena. Even today the official itinerary crosses for 120 kilometers Siena and its province, among hills, cypress trees and villages such as San Gimignano, Monteriggioni, Montalcino, San Quirico d’Orcia, Castiglione d’Orcia, Radicofani, San Casciano dei Bagni, as well as the variant of Abbadia San Salvatore. The route that connects Siena to Rome is one of the most frequented stretches by travelers from all over the world, who from the famous Piazza del Campo reach the Vatican in about 14 days, after 285 km of pure beauty.
In the new issue of the magazine there is no lack of in-depth analysis on the recent AEVF General Assembly in Vevey in Switzerland, reports of international events such as the “Grand Randonnée FFR” towards Paris and the experience in the snow at the Great Saint Bernard Hospice, but also special on places of interest linked to the itinerary such as the city of Mantua, a UNESCO heritage site, as well as practical advice for organizing the journey, thanks to the opening of the Medesano hostel along the Parma stage from Fidenza to Fornovo. The magazine hosts an important editorial signed by the general secretary of the Council of Europe Marija Pejčinović Burić, which highlights the crucial role of the Francigena path in promoting intercultural dialogue and European heritage on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of the recognition of the Via Francigena as a cultural itinerary of the Council of Europe. This is followed by a speech by the Minister of Tourism, who highlights how the Francigena is among the emblems par excellence of slow tourism, as well as one of the main assets of the 2023-2027 strategic tourism plan on which the Italian Ministry is working.
The presentation, open to the public, is attended by the chef Alessandro Pieragnolicreator of the famous wayfarer’s bruschetta, for which a tasting is planned.
This is followed by a guided tour of the Santa Maria della Scala complex which houses the House of Nurseswhere children who were abandoned or not recognized by their families were hospitalized: the structure is currently home to a hostel with 25 bedsreopened on March 29 after a period of inactivity during the pandemic.
