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LA VIA
FRANCIGENA
Itinerario storico
da Altopascio a Lucca
Introduction
In the early Middle Ages,
and right up until recent times, intense population
growth and industrialization in the plain had already led
to important changes to the entire stretch of the Via
Francigena (or Romea) that connects Altopascio with Lucca
- some 18 kilometres. Investigation of the history, maps
and archives has made it possible, however, to establish
that, rather than a single stretch of road, there was a
band of thoroughfares, either one on top of another or
side by side, depending on the hydrology, history,
politics, and demography that have marked the history of
this territory.
The Lake of Sesto and the multitude of its tributaries
from the north much influenced the changes in road
routes. These tributaries were often rerouted, modified
and rectified to allow drainage and conversion to
agriculture. In medieval times there were also the
disputes for territorial control by the various local
alliances and, later, the requirements of the two states,
who shared the shores of the lake as from the middle of
the 4th century - Florence and Lucca.
For a traveller on foot today, the historical tracks are
difficult to follow, especially on account of the dangers
of heavy traffic. The large-scale disappearance of
monuments and the spoiling of the countryside along the
ancient trails are compensated for by the continuing
interest of certain stages and, in particular, the areas
surrounding them.
Description of the
historic itinerary
From Altopascio
to Porcari
Once past the Arno near
Fucecchio and crossed the Cerbaie hills, the Francigena
reached Galleno (remains of road surface at the church of
S. Pietro) and headed for Altopascio. In the oldest
times, when the Hospice did not yet exist, the road
passed from the Teupascio locality, because only this
strip of land, at the edge of the marsh, was dry and safe
for the traveller. The Altopascio Hospice therefore,
dating to the end of the 11th century, was built at this
place of obligatory passage, at the crossroads of various
routes. Built by a group of persons (twelve, according to
tradition) who lived a communal life and were dedicated
to helping poor pilgrims and the sick passing that way,
the hospice flourished greatly in the 12th and 13th
centuries. Originally followers of the rule of St.
Augustine, in the early decades of the 13th centuries, by
papal decision, the hospitallers of Altopascio were
assimilated to the hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem,
while maintaining their own independence. Today, the
large building complex that was their headquarters is the
heart of the town, and still preserves legible traces of
its history.
The Magione (Big House), built as two cloisters of
different size, included the Romanesque church dedicated
to saints Jacob, Christopher and Egidio (12th century).
The massive, defensive, bell-tower is of the 13th
century, the operational buildings of the complex,
including the interesting grain store, are of the 18th,
and the defensive circle of walls with its gates largely
survives.
From Altopascio the oldest itinerary headed towards
Puzzeveri, the ancient Putheoli, which already in
Frankish times had a borgo. Buildings of the cult existed
there at the start of 1000 (S. Pietro and S. Stefano) and
a hospice run by a congregation of religious voted to
life in common is known in 1103. In the 12th century
there was a Benedictine abbey, subsequently Camaldolese,
flourishing up till the 14th century and suppressed in
1408. Following the track of a local Roman road from
Pozzeveri, the Francigena proceeded to Porcari, and this
is probably the itinerary followed by Sigerico at the end
of the 10th century.
More recently (13th century) the road shifted further
north, at the base of the Vivinaria hill (present-day
Montecarlo) under the influence of local consortia, among
which were important the Porcarienses, who aimed
at control of the territory, as indeed did the Magione of
Altopascio, which had many settlements in the area.
Once across the river Teupascio (today's Tassinaia) the
Francigena met what is now Turchetto, which in the
mid-13th century was the customs frontier between the
states of Florence and of Lucca.
Beyond the Tazzera river, a short distance from the road,
there stood, as from end of the 12th century, the Tazzera
leper house, surrounded by solid walls. It was in
operation till the end of the following century. Shortly,
the road entered the ancient borgo of Porcari, at today's
locality "Pineta" where documents attest the
existence of religious structures (S. Maria and S.
Michele Archangelo) in the first half of the 11th
century.
The importance of Porcari in commanding the narrow
thoroughfare of the Cassia between the southern hills of
the Valdinievole and the Lake of Sesto is recognized
since Lombard times. The castle there was for centuries
fought over by noble families and was the scene of
military battles.
Only a few ruins of the castle remain today. The
Francigena ran at the foot of the fortified hill, then
turning north (along today's "Viaccia", Sbarra,
Torre roads). The ancient church of S. Giusto, which the
road passed close to, contains no appreciable traces of
the original conformation.
A walk of
historical and environmental interest
From the site of an 18th
century oratory in Turchetto, an itinerary leads
north-east towards Montecarlo, climbing the first hill
slopes. Built in the 14th century around the fortress of
Cerruglio by Charles IV, grandson of Arrigo VII of
Luxembourg, it still preserves the 14th century parish
church of S. Andrew, much worked over in the 18th
century. There is the Praetorian Palace (transformed into
a convent in the 17th century), an almost intact circle
of walls with three access ports and the fortress
complex.
From Porcari to
Lunata
The next stage was Rughi,
perhaps originally a Lombard settlement, as the name
suggests. This was a road crossing of a certain
importance between the Roman road from Florence to Lucca
and the Francigena. The historic track can be detected
today in the stretch included in the streets of the
Assunta, Rietto, Pacconi, Ciarpi and Romana west. No
traces remain of the 13th century hospice of S. Maria,
probably within the structure of the church, which does
not retain signs of its medieval layout.
From Rughi the Francigena-Romea followed the track of the
Roman road from Florence to Lucca, which was the
extension of the Cassia. From Rughi, the ancient track
bore towards the locality today known as Frattina
(commune of Porcari), crossed the Sana river, near which
an ancient group of rural courtyards remains, ran
parallel to the present-day Pesciatina main road to reach
the localities of Zone and Borghetto. It reached Lunata,
which is why the medieval Lucchese roadway statutes
indicate it as the road "de Collibus".
Close to the road was the important medieval hospital of
S. Matthew and S. Pellegrino, explicitly devoted to the
assistance of passers-by and depending from the parish
church of S. Frediano of Lunata, situated along the
Francigena not far from a secondary branch of the
Serchio, today known as Ozzeri (Auserculus). The bell
tower of the ancient parish church remains, and there are
a few traces in the present parish building.
At Lunata the Cassia-Francigena met the "via
Lombarda", an important north-south route which was
perhaps an ancient penetration track opened by the
Longobardi. This road passed through the localities of
Lammari (collegial church of S. Jacopo restructured on
the earlier Romanesque building; little church of S.
Christopher, pre-Romanesque) and proceeded north towards
the pass of the Pizzorne.
The alternative
between the "via de supra" and the "via de
subtus"
Over the course of time
the "via de supra" is most mentioned in
the documents as the "via et strata Romea"
and is cited in 1034 at the locality "Felicaio"
(today lost) in the vicinity of Lunata. Also called "strata
romipetum", it is recorded in 1212 near the
chapel of S. Lorenzo di Picciorana. Not far beyond, it
ran alongside the old church of S. Vito (already in
existence in 1092 in the locality called "at the
grave of Tori", where there was perhaps a burial
monument. The present Pesciatina main road is a rectified
track of the "Old S. Vito Road", a stretch of
the Francigena that entered the town through Borgo gate.
The other itinerary, that ran further south and in the
medieval town-planning statutes of Lucca is called the "via
de subus", turned, at the height of the stretch
between Lunata and Picciorana, towards Tempagnano, a
Langobard settlement where, in 750, the hospice of S.
Agata is recorded, among the first to be founded by the
dominators of the city. In the same place there was also
a church dedicated to S. Andrew, under the people's
jurisdiction of Lunata. From Tempagnano the road turned
towards the locality at the gates of Lucca called
"Aranci", in the section of S. Bartolomeo in
Silice. From here the track terminated once more at the
Borgo gate.
"The third
route", from Porcari to Lucca via Capannori
A third route is recorded
in the Middle Ages, still further to the south. In late
19th century Lucca documents it is referred to either as
the "road that goes to Capannori" or "main
road to Capannori", or, again, as "via et
strata de Porcari". The late medieval centre of
Porcari, controlled by powerful feudal consortiums, would
act the force of attraction on an existing Roman stretch
that connected Lucca with the area of Badia Pozzeveri (as
witnessed by the place names Quarto, Quinto and Sesto).
The settlements found on this route are Porcari,
Capannori and Antraccoli. The road ended at the S.
Gervasio gate, which on the inner side corresponded to
the porta orientalis of the Roman town.
History and art
- an interesting tour in the Capannori area.
The present, long
north-south aspect of the commune of Capannori is due to
an ancient plebeian layout created in the late Middle
Ages involving important routes which connected the
Tuscan and Emilian Apennines with the mid-valley of the
Arno. Throughout the commune there is a considerable
concentration of surviving Romanesque churches. In the
northern part there are architectural remains that date
back to before the 11th century (S. Giusto di Marlia and
S. Martino di Marlia, S. Quirico in Petroio, S.
Cristoforo di Lammari). For the most part, however, the
buildings are of 11th and 12th century construction in
Lucchese, Lombard and Pisan styles. In the area to the
north are the parish church of S. Jacopo di Lamari, S.
Lorenzo di Segromigno and the church of S. Gennaro and,
south of the commune centre, S. Quirico di Cappanori, the
parish church of S. Paolo and S. Leonardo in Treponzio
Lucca and
medieval pilgrimage.
In the 12th century, entry
to Lucca was still through the four gates of what, since
the late second century BC had been a flourishing municipium
at the crossways of important connecting routes with
Florence, Parma and the Po valley, Luni and Pisa. At the
four gates that opened in the powerful Roman ring of
walls in the direction of the cardinal points, there
opened from the inside the cardo maximus (today's
via Fillungo, via Cenami and Via S. Giovanni) and the decumanus
maximus (today's via S. Croce, via Roma, via S.
Paolino) the basic geometric elements in the orthogonal
arrangement of the insulae, or quarters of the town. From
the outside, the paved consular road arrived, leaving
traces in the place names. In the ancient Lucca suburb,
subsequently largely absorbed within the new 13th century
walls, the place name "in Silice"
frequently survived in the Middle Ages, identifying the
position of the religious buildings built next to the
Roman stratae, which remained long in use.
Markedly influenced by the presence and role of these
routes and by the perimeter of its walls, rebuilt three
times since those put up to defend the Roman municipium,
Lucca is historically remembered for its great ability
for self-renewal still featured today by the many-layered
richness of the town plan and by the perimeter of its
fourth and last 16th century circle of walls.
Between the 8th and 9th centuries there were many
hospices in Lucca and the surrounding territory. These
were often of private foundation and annexed to
monasteries, places of the cult at the service of poor
outsiders and pilgrims. In subsequent centuries the city
maintained its function of welcome and assistance to
wayfarers and the needy of various sorts, originally
entrusted to religious bodies and later, at the time of
the commune, also to the free initiative of merchants
associations, public institutions and laymen.
Anyone coming along the Francigena from north-west
reached the gates of Lucca after having crossed the S.
Pietro bridge over the Serchio. Recorded for the first
time in 1081, the bridge had a domus and a hospice
for pilgrims. From here the traveller could head for the
city's western gate, which in the 13th century was Porta
S. Donato. Anyone coming from the Tyrrhenean coast or
from Pisa entered at the south, through Porta S. Pietro.
From east and north-east (through the S. Gervasio, S.
Maria or "di Borgo" of S. Frediano gates)
entered the travellers and wayfarers who used the
south-east of the Francigena, which, for the part closest
to Lucca, consisted of three distinct itineraries, of
which the most northerly coincided with the track of the
ancient extension of the Cassia from Florence. At Rughi
the track turned south-east, serving those who had
crossed the Arno near Fucecchio and had passed from
Galleno and Altopascio. Shortly after the mid-13th
century in the urban areas corresponding to the four
gates in the communal ring of walls there existed,
respectively, at least three or four hospices of
religious foundation, which had to pay a census to the
Lucca episcopacy (Libellus extimi Lucanae Dyocesis,
1260). If some of these were supported by churches and
monasteries of great prestige, the presence of others
indicate a precise territorial strategy on the part of
the orders of hospitallers and similar pious foundations.
The Mansio Templi was in Porta S. Donato, the Hospitale
de Contesora in Porta S. Pietro, while the hospices
of the canonry of S. Martino, of the church of S. Maria Forisportam
and of the monastery of S. Bartolomeo in Silice)
which in the 15th century would change its title to S.
Ponziano when the saint's remains were moved there). For
anyone not frightened off by the picturesque name, there
was also the Hospitale S. Johannis Malenoctis.
Within the perimeter of the old city and close to the
church of S. Giulia, the Magione of Altopascio had its
own reception area and buildings.
In the populous area "di Borgo" where most of
the pilgrims and travellers using the Francigena
concentrated, there was the church of S. Jacopo
"alla Tomba" built over an ancient burial site.
Between Porta S. Frediano and Porta S. Maria there
existed in 1260 the hospice of the canonry of S.
Frediano, the Hospitale de Ruchi (under the
control of the mother-house at Rughi, on the north-east
branch of the Francigena), and the hospice of the
canonical church of S. Michele in Foro, built by
the Langobards in the civil, administrative and
commercial heart of the Roman city.
Two 15th century reliefs, of popular style depicting S.
Jacopo and S. Leonardo, respectively, still in evidence
along the access road, once external to the Porta S.
Maria (the present-day Via M. Rosi), witness even in
modern times the continuing existence of local devotion
to two of the saints of European pilgrimage.
Various relics could be visited at Lucca but particularly
venerated and famous was the Volto Santo, a
monumental wooden crucifix kept in he cathedral of S.
Martino and whose image had become a sign of devotion
since the late Middle Ages, in the town and soon
throughout Europe.
Lucca was a flourishing and populous town in the Middle
Ages, busy with its merchants' warehouses and artisans'
shops and the factories of producers of silk cloths.
Besides the hotels, taverns and hostelries run by private
citizens there were the various houses of the people and
the emerging classes, the towers and the tower-houses,
sometimes set out in the characteristic courtyard
arrangement. From the outside, high over the plain
appeared the solid, grim 13th century walls, with its
semicircular towers. With the evolution of civil society,
and economic and political and institutional conditions,
the same cultural and religious models, over time,
transformed the aspect of the city and its walls, without
destroying the main aspects of the past. In parallel, a
more complex rapport with the territory and the closing
in around the city of an ever more compact conurbation
have changed the parameters of the overall aspect,
filling up ancient open spaces and sometimes radically
altering the role and the routes of the ways of
communication.
Program
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