Guardian article - Il Cammino di San Francesco di Paola

[Bradypus]

An article on the website of The Guardian - new walking routes in the south of Italy commemorating the life of a local saint, Francesco di Paola. The article contains a link to the website of the new Cammino association promoting the routes.

On the trail of the other Saint Francis in Italy’s deep south

A new series of long-distance hikes in Calabria take in captivating scenery and the legacy and legends of eco-conscious Saint Francis of Paola, the first recorded vegan

www.theguardian.com

 

[timr]

An article on the website of The Guardian - new walking routes in the south of Italy commemorating the life of a local saint, Francesco di Paola. The article contains a link to the website of the new Cammino association promoting the routes.

On the trail of the other Saint Francis in Italy’s deep south

A new series of long-distance hikes in Calabria take in captivating scenery and the legacy and legends of eco-conscious Saint Francis of Paola, the first recorded vegan

www.theguardian.com

This looks very interesting. I haven't had time to read the website in detail yet, as I am travelling.

it seems to be a trend in Italy perhaps - to develop smaller local "pilgrim-style" walking routes?

Last year I walked from Matera to Brindisi on the Cammino Materano developed and promoted by very enthusiastic local volunteers. On my stretch there were just three ostello-type accommodation options and the remainder was B&B. But the organisation has negotiated very generous discounts with the B&Bs on listed in their information (all online) if you book directly - a Whatsapp call usually suffices - and you can pay when you get there. If you book with "a well known online site" it will cost significantly more.

Most of the stopovers have a local contact person/responsabile who will be happy to be contacted for advice or often to meet for a coffee. It is nice to see people with a passion for their local environment. It is a rather different model from the traditional Camino/Via Francigena, but very complementary I thought.

I continued from Brindisi to Santa Maria di Leuca and at Lecce I connected with the Cammino del Salento which is just from Lecce to finibus terrae. This was a smaller enterprise but lots of information from the organisers. It diverts a little from the "official" VF del Sud, and there are different options.

it was very much off season when I walked and many places were closed. But again the organisation have linked up with local accommodation and restaurants to offer discounts, notably at the Terminus Hotel in Santa Maria. I had no real contact with the organisers on this second leg, but this was really because it was November and very much off season. The people I met in lodgings were welcoming and enthusiastic.

Both of those routes I mention have been developed just in the past few years.

Some people worry about cost if using B&Bs. I think is is true to say that prices are low in inland southern Italy away from the main tourist areas. And the discount with the partners/supporters makes a real difference.

 

[timr]

PS Southern Italy is (for many northern Europeans) less well known than the tourist spots of the north and centre, perhaps.

I enjoyed in particular on the VFdS visiting Celle di San Vito - with its own language, Faeta.

Then walking from Brindisi to Santa Maria coming across the few towns where they still speak Greek. Though very sadly it is dying out, it was interesting to hear from younger people how their grandparents and parents still maintained the tradition.

So I was interested to see mention of Albanian-speaking communities along the way here. These little persistent echoes of older culture are fascinating.

 

[Simon Shum]

Hola @timr, hope you don't mind me asking some questions. What was the weather like when you were walking in November? Did you need to use GPS, and is it hard to get accommodation in the off season? I do speak a bit Italian, would that be OK to walk there?

Your trip does sound like a very interesting walk through history and culture! Thanks!

 

[timr]

Hola @timr, hope you don't mind me asking some questions. What was the weather like when you were walking in November? Did you need to use GPS, and is it hard to get accommodation in the off season? I do speak a bit Italian, would that be OK to walk there?

Your trip does sound like a very interesting walk through history and culture! Thanks!

Helllo @Simon nice to hear from you.

I walked from mid-October to late November of 2022 and the weather was possibly atypically good. The temperature when I started in Matera was still in the 30s. I had very little rain, just on one or two days.

I did use GPS - the Cammino Materano site supplies traces which will work with any app of your choosing. They were useful but not strictly necessary. The road is really well waymarked.

On the Cammino Materano (CM). there was only one place were the off season caused a problem and that was the last night before Brindisi. I had to divert to another location - but I knew this before I started walking. Most of the places on that particular path are not really on the tourist trail, except for Alberobello. The CM people have identified B&B or hotels in every stop and I was able to book them all in advance by Whatsapp (generally) just by word /message- I didn't have to pay in advance. i just paid when I arrived. It is hard to explain how enthusiastic the people along the way are and they have a sort of corporate ownership of the route.

From Brindisi down to Santa Maria di Leuca I was back on the VF, intermingled with the Cammino di Salento. Here there was a slight problem with the off season. Much less choice of places as many were closed for the winter. BUT I never failed to find somewhere, and the Cammino di Salento similarly has connections with recommended accommodation along the way. As I often say, at the end of the day, I only need one bed, one bar and one restaurant.

On the path(s) from Brindisi to Santa Maria I think you would need to supplement the waymarking with GPS. Traces are readily available from viefrancigene.org and CamminodelSalento.it

My personal view is that every bit of Spanish/French/Italian you can muster helps and adds to the interest. But I think it is so easy to combine say Google Translate with Whatsapp that finding accommodation is not really a problem language-wise.

You can send me a DM if you have further specific questions. I am very happy to reply!

Tim

 

[Simon Shum]

Hi @timr, thanks very much for your so very informative and detail explanation! After we walked the Via Francigena a few years back, we really want to walk the southern part too, and now we are have your experience to go by, and also those helpful local associations! These Camminos are very high on our list.

And thanks @Bradypus for posting the interesting article with those local associations! I hope more people will read this article and get to know these Camminos! Grazie mille!