Italy will invest around 40 million euros in a major pilgrimage route dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi, spanning 1546 kilometres and passing through six regions of the country: Abruzzo, Emilia-Romagna, Lazio, Marche, Tuscany and Umbria.
The project "Cammino di Francesco – Il Cammino della Luce" aims to articulate and enhance existing Franciscan routes, with Assisi as the main destination for pilgrims. The initiative gains special significance in 2026, when the 800th anniversary of the death of Saint Francis is commemorated, which occurred on October 3, 1226.
The comparison with Santiago de Compostela arises mainly from the dimension that Italy intends to give to the project. The Way of Santiago has become a worldwide reference for pilgrimage, managing to combine spiritual experience, heritage, tourism and economic development of the localities along the way.
It is this model of a large network of paths converging on a religious destination that Italy intends to replicate around Assisi, creating a structure similar to that which made Compostela's success possible.
