…Close to the new Millennium people thought that the end of the world was coming soon. Though the pilgrimages belonged to the earlier Christian tradition, in that period, following the nobles customs, many kings, bishops, and common people too, started to do these long trips. Someone travelled to Rome, to pray on the Apostles' tombs (so called Romei), someone to Santiago de Compostela, on the northern region of Spain, to Saint Giacomo's tomb. The Pilgrims used to bring along with them, as a symbol of their travelling, a seashell, collected on the seaside, and Dante called them pilgrims and after him until nowadays this became the term used for these special travellers. The longest and most dangerous travel was that of those who went to the Holy Land, to pray on the Holy Tomb. As a sign of this pilgrimage they brought with them on the way back a twig of palm tree and for this they were called palmers. The pilgrims lived their travel as a metaphor, an image of human life's travel, full of danger and temptations but at the end with the aim of meeting God. The travel became so an occasion of purification and a penitent period to gain Eden, and this was important especially for this feeling that the end of the world was imminent.
The Pilgrims used to leave mainly in summer time, when, if necessary, you can sleep also under the skies and it was easy to find something to feed horses or donkeys for those, few, who could afford to have them. Almost all, those who weren't wanders, before leaving for the pilgrimage used to give their last wills on which very often private treasury were left to churches and monasteries for the soul's sake. A part the clothes they wore, the luggage consisted of few things: a mantle called pellegrina was used to shelter and sleep under the skies, a hat with long ears tied under the chin to repair from sun and rain, called petaso; then very strong shoes and socks which gave an idea of the economical effort they could support. To eat during the travel they used to take an empty dried marrow as a water supply, a bit of food and some fire stones to make a fire. They always kept with themselves a long stick with an iron tip for both purpose: to lean against it and to defend themselves from animals and wrongdoers, a bag to keep money and documents, called scarsella. Often they brought with them some important person's letters of presentation. If required these letters were also used as a credit card instead of money, especially golden coins were dangerous to bring along because of the many thieves and killers one could meet around the route. To reach Rome or Santiago one needed to travel for months. During the travel one could stop to places of minor relevance, churches which were spread all over the route through the roads, paths, fords and bridges on rivers. This route was called romea, because it brought to Rome, and francigena, because some time after it was used especially by merchants to reach Italy from France. The francigena touched our places and many of our churches, like Badia a Isola, were stops of the route. Badia a Isola had two gates on the main entrance, so to recall to entrance of Jerusalem church of the Holy Tomb.
Colle too was a minor place of pilgrimage: on its cathedral it's kept a reliquary of the Holy Nail, which according to the tradition was one of those used for Jesus' crucifixion.
But the pilgrims needed also to restore somewhere during the travel. So, a part minor places of faith, along the route grew many inns, hostels, cowsheds, blacksmiths' and veterinary surgeon's shops, different goods' shops and markets. And, like in San Gimignano, the 'spedali.

Pilgrims coming back from the pilgrimage to the Saint James apostle's grave to Santiago de Compostela. They have on a shell, picked up on the beach, before starting again, as a symbol of their journey.

The longest and most dangerous travel was that of those who went to the Holy Land, to pray on the Holy Tomb. As a sign of this pilgrimage they brought with them on the way back a twig of palm tree and for this they were called palmers. The pilgrims lived their travel as a metaphor, an image of human life's travel, full of danger and temptations but at the end with the aim of meeting God. The travel became so an occasion of purification and a penitent period to gain Eden, and this was important especially for this feeling that the end of the world was imminent.
The Pilgrims used to leave mainly in summer time, when, if necessary, you can sleep also under the skies and it was easy to find something to feed horses or donkeys for those, few, who could afford to have them. Almost all, those who weren't wanders, before leaving for the pilgrimage used to give their last wills on which very often private treasury were left to churches and monasteries for the soul's sake. A part the clothes they wore, the luggage consisted of few things: a mantle called pellegrina was used to shelter and sleep under the skies, a hat with long ears tied under the chin to repair from sun and rain, called petaso; then very strong shoes and socks which gave an idea of the economical effort they could support. To eat during the travel they used to take an empty dried marrow as a water supply, a bit of food and some fire stones to make a fire. They always kept with themselves a long stick with an iron tip for both purpose: to lean against it and to defend themselves from animals and wrongdoers, a bag to keep money and documents, called scarsella. Often they brought with them some important person's letters of presentation. If required these letters were also used as a credit card instead of money, especially golden coins were dangerous to bring along because of the many thieves and killers one could meet around the route. To reach Rome or Santiago one needed to travel for months. During the travel one could stop to places of minor relevance, churches which were spread all over the route through the roads, paths, fords and bridges on rivers. This route was called romea, because it brought to Rome, and francigena, because some time after it was used especially by merchants to reach Italy from France. The francigena touched our places and many of our churches, like Badia a Isola, were stops of the route. Badia a Isola had two gates on the main entrance, so to recall to entrance of Jerusalem church of the Holy Tomb.
Colle too was a minor place of pilgrimage: on its cathedral it's kept a reliquary of the Holy Nail, which according to the tradition was one of those used for Jesus' crucifixion.
But the pilgrims needed also to restore somewhere during the travel. So, a part minor places of faith, along the route grew many inns, hostels, cowsheds, blacksmiths' and veterinary surgeon's shops, different goods' shops and markets. And, like in San Gimignano, the 'spedali.


The Pilgrims used to leave mainly in summer time, when, if necessary, you can sleep also under the skies and it was easy to find something to feed horses or donkeys for those, few, who could afford to have them. Almost all, those who weren't wanders, before leaving for the pilgrimage used to give their last wills on which very often private treasury were left to churches and monasteries for the soul's sake. A part the clothes they wore, the luggage consisted of few things: a mantle called pellegrina was used to shelter and sleep under the skies, a hat with long ears tied under the chin to repair from sun and rain, called petaso; then very strong shoes and socks which gave an idea of the economical effort they could support. To eat during the travel they used to take an empty dried marrow as a water supply, a bit of food and some fire stones to make a fire. They always kept with themselves a long stick with an iron tip for both purpose: to lean against it and to defend themselves from animals and wrongdoers, a bag to keep money and documents, called scarsella. Often they brought with them some important person's letters of presentation. If required these letters were also used as a credit card instead of money, especially golden coins were dangerous to bring along because of the many thieves and killers one could meet around the route. To reach Rome or Santiago one needed to travel for months. During the travel one could stop to places of minor relevance, churches which were spread all over the route through the roads, paths, fords and bridges on rivers. This route was called romea, because it brought to Rome, and francigena, because some time after it was used especially by merchants to reach Italy from France. The francigena touched our places and many of our churches, like Badia a Isola, were stops of the route. Badia a Isola had two gates on the main entrance, so to recall to entrance of Jerusalem church of the Holy Tomb.
Colle too was a minor place of pilgrimage: on its cathedral it's kept a reliquary of the Holy Nail, which according to the tradition was one of those used for Jesus' crucifixion.
But the pilgrims needed also to restore somewhere during the travel. So, a part minor places of faith, along the route grew many inns, hostels, cowsheds, blacksmiths' and veterinary surgeon's shops, different goods' shops and markets. And, like in San Gimignano, the 'spedali.