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| TRAVELLING :: PARKS AND NATURE |
 
The ways of History (the 'Via Francigena')
Fucecchio, land of wayfarers, pilgrims and travellers. Once it was an intersection point along one of the main communication arteries: the Via Francigena, that road which crossing through half of Europe from Santiago De Compostela took to Rome. Travel diaries often recall a village called Fucecchio. Sigeric, archbishop of Canterbury, quotes the crossing of the Arne Bianca and the Acqua Nigra, which are just the Arno and the Usciana
And also the French king Philippe Auguste, returning from the 1191 crusades, mentions the crossing of the Arno and other two places: Grasse Geline and Hospital which correspond to Galleno, a fraction of Fucecchio and Altopascio. The via Francigena, which then crossed the centre of town, touching Poggio Salamartano and the current Complesso Corsini, where the Salamarzana Castle rose.
On the traces of the ancient pilgrim routes you can therefore walk through the Fucecchio roads searching for traces of the past.
On the Poggio Salamartano two churches appear, that of San Salvatore, built around the XII century and the Collegiata of San Giovanni Battista. On the hill nearby the recently restored Complesso Corsini which inside hosts the remains of what was the Salamarzana castle. Continuing towards Lucca we arrive at Ponte a Cappiano, where we'll see the recently restored Ponte Mediceo.
Ever since the middle ages there was a fortified bridge in this place which permitted the crossing of the Usciana river and which was the strategic passage point along the via Francigena. The current structure was decided by Cosimo I De Medici at the end of the XVI century.
The last bit of the via Francigena in the Fucecchio territory is in a place called Galleno. Here, starting from San Pietro's church, immersed in the woods we find the remains of the ancient track, which escaped the wear of time and men's restorations
Via Francigena
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