Innovations in a Traditional Landscape of Pilgrimage

The Via Francigena del Sud towards Rome and Other Apulian Pilgrim's Routes

Bibliographic Data

ID4314503
AuthorsGiuseppe Egidio De Benedetto (0000-0002-0832-5470), Anna Trono (0000-0002-9734-0938, University of Salento, corresponding author), Luigi Oliva (0009-0005-8460-8500, Parco Archeologico dell’Appia Antica, Ministry of Culture, I-00185 Roma, Italy)
Year2021
Volume12
Issue12
Pages1065
Publication date2021-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligions (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel12121065
OpenAlexW3215004439
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited12

Religious routes and itineraries can be seen as promoting not only the sharing of ethical and religious values and sentiments of peace and brotherhood but also the awareness and personal growth of the traveller. Those who walk remote pilgrimage paths today wish to experience the fascination of the past, to feel something of the dread and the passion of ancient travellers, but they also seek to fulfil an emotional and intellectual need for authenticity, spirituality and culture. The Puglia region has numerous religious paths that arose in past centuries and continue to be practised by modern pilgrims, who treat the journey as an emotional, educational, social and participatory experience. Appropriate exploitation of this type of journey would enable the promotion of a "gentle" but no less successful tourism, above all in a period of social distancing and global suffering. The present study starts with a presentation of some of the precursors of the many routes that led from the Orient towards Rome, such as those of the Apostle Peter, St Francis of Assisi and the anonymous Pilgrim of Bordeaux. It then examines the new values that prompt people to follow the Via Francigena del Sud that runs along the Italian peninsula linking Europe north of the Alps to the ports of Puglia, and it is just an exemplary case aimed at fulfilling the potential of eastern Mediterranean coastal regions by offering cultural routes and itineraries for sustainable and quality tourism

Ancient history · Apostle · Archaeology · Environmental ethics · Ethnology · Passion · Peninsula · Pilgrim · Pilgrimage · Political science · Sociology · Spectacle · Spiritualities · Spirituality · Tourism · Diverse Aspects of Tourism Research · History · Law · Psychology · Religious Tourism and Spaces · Social Psychology · Travel Writing and Literature

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