Germany to Rome Pilgrimage

The path to St. Pete's Keys!

From August 2006 and February 2007 my wife, Petra, and I completed a walking pilgrimage to Rome from our home in Kißlegg, Germany. This site tells you about our experiences. We walked in three phases described on the following pages with varying levels of detail:

Over the Alps reflects on the Kisslegg to Fidenza, Italy stage. Perhaps I shall return later and write more details about this phase.
Via Francigena (VF) Fidenza to San Gimignano
VF San Gimignano to Rome.

The site includes other information:

A general Via Francigena page - General reflections on the VF.
A Map page - the general layout of the walk
A Stops page - our daily stops
We also give a slide show on our Germany-to-Rome pilgrimage.

Why walk to Rome?

Why? After walking the third most important pilgrimage route in Christendom, to Santiago, it is only logical to think of doing the second most important. And with the walk comes the opportunity to walk over the Alps, across the Po River plains, through the hills of Tuscany and the home of the Etruscans, and finally into the Eternal City itself. Yes, walking to Rome is a worthy endeavor.

If the walk was only this, it would be enough. But there is more.

I fear heights more than I want to. So we walked the well-traveled E5 walking trail over the Alps to challenge that fear, to face it squarely on, to cross its border and learn to live with it. That excites me.

Beyond that I have had a life-long desire to walk the hills and back roads of Italy, to get to know Italy and its people a bit from its villages and countryside. That has happen on this walk. That, too, excites me.

Like the walk along the Camino de Santiago, for us the walk itself is the important component of this pilgrimage, not the destination. Yes, we are walking to Rome. But the more important aim of the walk is to give ourselves the time and opportunity to discuss and meditate on why we are here in the universe and what we are here to do and be. This part excites me the most.

So there is much to be said for walking to Rome. And perhaps, like Caesar, we shall cast a die as we cross our Rubicon, wherever that is.