The Via del Volto Santo: on foot through the Lunigiana to Lucca
A historic route that descends from the Apennine passes of the Lunigiana down to Lucca, among Malaspina castles and stone villages. An almost forgotten pilgrimage way that crosses the most hidden and wild corner of Tuscany.
Foto: Rovados (CC BY-SA 2.0) — Wikimedia Commons
At the far north of Tuscany, squeezed between Liguria and Emilia, there is a land that many travellers cross by motorway without ever stopping: the Lunigiana. And yet one of the most evocative pilgrimage ways of the Middle Ages once passed through here, the Via del Volto Santo, which linked the Apennine passes to Lucca and its famous wooden crucifix, the Volto Santo, a destination venerated by the faithful from all over Europe. Today this route is an almost forgotten one, and precisely for that reason it offers an authentic slow-travel experience, far from the big crowds.
From Pontremoli
The route descends from the Apennines towards the Lucca plain, following, broadly, the ancient path of the pilgrims. You set off from the passes that connect the Lunigiana with Emilia, near Pontremoli, the main town of the upper valley, with its historic centre gathered around the river and the Piagnaro castle, which today houses the museum of the statue stele, mysterious prehistoric sculptures that are the symbol of this land. From here the way touches the stone villages scattered along the valley of the Magra and its tributaries, where at every turn a tower or a fortress appears.
The land of the Malaspina
The Lunigiana is in fact the land of the Malaspina, the family that for centuries divided it into many small fiefdoms, each with its own castle. Along the way you come across places such as Filattiera, Bagnone with its village clinging to the slope, Villafranca in Lunigiana, and then, having crossed the ridge that separates the Magra valley from the Garfagnana and the Lucca plain, you descend towards the Serchio valley. The way thus crosses the Garfagnana and the Middle Serchio Valley, touching villages and Romanesque parish churches, before heading definitively towards Lucca. Arriving in the walled city, in front of the Cathedral of San Martino that guards the Volto Santo, is the natural crowning of the journey, the moment when the effort of the passes and the woods finds its meaning and its reward.
How to tackle it
To tackle the Via del Volto Santo you need to be self-sufficient and well prepared, because it does not have the widespread organisation of the more popular routes. It is walked on foot, on trails, mule tracks and stretches of secondary road, with significant climbs in the initial Apennine section. Pontremoli is reachable by train on the Pontremolese line, which climbs from Parma towards La Spezia, while Lucca and the towns of the Serchio valley are served by the Lucca-Aulla railway: this makes it possible to organise stages and returns by public transport. It's worth studying the route tracks in advance and booking accommodation, since lodgings in the smaller villages are few.
When to go
The ideal time is late spring, May and June, when the Apennine woods are cool, the meadows in bloom and the days long, or September, with the weather still mild and the colours beginning to turn. These are months when the Tuscan coast and the art cities are crowded, while here in the interior you can walk for hours meeting only the odd villager. High summer can be hot in the valley bottoms, and winter makes the higher stretches impassable with snow and bad weather. Walking out of season also means finding the villages in their everyday life, with no concession to tourism, the shops and taverns frequented only by the locals.
A practical tip: don't underestimate the distances and the climbs, and divide the way into manageable stages, using the villages and the train stations to break up the route. Bring well-tested shoes, water and food supplies, because between one village and the next services are sparse, and always find out about the state of the trails before setting off. Give yourself the time to enter the castles and parish churches you come across: it is in slowness, stopping to talk with those who still live in these places, that the most hidden Lunigiana finally lets itself be discovered.
Practical guides
Practical info
When is the best time to visit The Via del Volto Santo?
The recommended time is May, June and September, when it is less crowded.
Where is The Via del Volto Santo?
The Via del Volto Santo is located in Lunigiana, Tuscany.
