Umbria in Italy beckons for the next Catholic Herald pilgrimage at the end of September. We are venturing beyond the Iberian Peninsula to walk the La Via di Francesco Camino to the hilltop town of Assisi.
The La Via di Francesco Camino is inextricably bound up with St Francis—his feast day is on 4 October, when we shall be walking—and Assisi. The founder of the Franciscans is one of the most venerated figures in Christianity: famous and beloved for his peace-making, his affinity with animals, and his life of poverty and piety – including receiving the stigmata.
Starting in Terni, about 61 miles to the north of Rome, the 67-mile section of La Via di Francesco that we shall follow will take us deep into Umbria. The writer John Pietro has called the region “a hidden gem at the heart of Italy,” with all the beauty of neighbouring Tuscany “but without the mobs of tourists.”
In addition to St Francis, Umbria produced St Benedict of Nursia and St Clare — who also came from Assisi. Pietro concludes that Umbria is “as much a pilgrim’s paradise as it is a tourist’s dream”. That rich religious legacy means beautiful ancient churches are spread all over Umbria, as are small traditional towns, many of which were first founded by the Etruscans and Romans.
“Quiet, meandering, cobbled streets flanked by medieval stone homes, broken up by sunny piazzas and pleasant gurgling fountains transport you back to a time before the hectic hubbub of modernity,” Pietro says. A constant presence, he notes, is the ringing of bells from a town’s main church, “a welcome sound for those longing to escape the rabid secularism” that dominates elsewhere.
A good match for a Catholic Herald pilgrimage, then. While our route and its mixture of natural beauty and religious sites will offer a contemplative experience, like the last Herald Camino to Fátima, not surprisingly there will be more opportunities for experiencing Italy’s famous embrace of La Dolce Vita. Food in Umbria, Pietro notes, is “extremely fresh and authentic” while being “shockingly inexpensive”. Meanwhile, the Umbrian weather in October is most agreeable.
After leaving Terni, our La Via di Francesco route will be broken up by spending nights in six more beautiful towns and villages, each set in a its own bit of verdant landscape offering stunning views. We will stay for two nights at Assisi, to make the most of all there is to see: most of all, of course, the famous basilica dedicated to St Francis with its frescos and the crypt where he is buried.
On the other side of town is the basilica of St Clare. In addition to containing the remains of the founder of the Order of the Poor Clares, it also contains the shrine of the first millennial saint, Blessed Carlo Acutis. Just outside Assisi on a hillside is the Eremo delle Carceri, with a cave where St Francis meditated.
After Assisi, the Camino comes to an end. Though there is obviously the option to make the most of where we are and to spend some time in Rome—a pilgrimage site in its own right—before returning home. Is it possible to have too much of La Dolce Vita? We may well find out.
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Dates: 29 September – 8 October, 2023. Cost: £1,225 (covers accommodation with breakfast, luggage transfer, priest in attendance along with Camino guide). Anyone wishing to join is invited to contact James directly: [email protected]. Photo: Getty Images.
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