Way of Saint Francis Map Poster

The Way of Saint Francis, the Via di Francesco in Italian, is a 536 km (333 mi) pilgrimage through central Italy, from the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence to St. Peter's Square in Rome. It climbs through the Casentino forests to the cliff-top sanctuary of La Verna, follows the upper Tiber valley to Gubbio and reaches Assisi, where Francis was born and is buried, a little past halfway. From there it runs south past Spoleto, the Marmore waterfalls and the Rieti valley, and comes into Rome along the Tiber.

Most people walk it southbound in 27 stages, taking four to five weeks with rest days, and climb about 20,500 m (67,300 ft) along the way. The highest point, around 1,250 m (4,100 ft), comes in the first week, and the longest day, from Pieve Santo Stefano to Sansepolcro, is 35 km (22 mi) over the Alpe della Luna. There are no mountain huts: pilgrims sleep in convents, parish guesthouses and small family inns, and follow the yellow Tau waymarks.

The route links the places where Francis lived and prayed eight hundred years ago, from La Verna, where he received the stigmata, to Gubbio and its legend of the wolf. Pilgrims who walk the last 100 km (62 mi) can collect a Testimonium in Assisi, and another in Rome. The Testimonium proves you walked it; a Way of Saint Francis map poster lets you relive it.