Via Francigena nel Sud Day 13: Teano - Roccaromana

Road to from Rome Day 13: Teano - Roccaromana

22 km

Our lodgings in Teano were far away from the town centre and the Via Francigena, so we had to wait until the school bus had finished its rounds and was free to pick us up and take us back to the cathedral. Here we were joined by two new local walkers, Imma and Marco, who live only 40 kilometres from where we walked today. Along with Annalisa, who lives in Naples, they form our local contingent, qualified to inform us about the local gastronomic specialties, dialect, traditions and so on.

Our group of ten set off through the town of Teano and past the old Roman theatre, at one time big enough to accommodate ten thousand spectators!

Teano is marked as being exactly 200 km from Rome, though according to my calculations it is further... In any case, we stopped to take pictures of the 200 km marker, somewhat illogically (and dangerously) placed in the middle of a traffic divider on a busy road. 

We soon left the town behind and walked through orchards of fruit and hazelnut trees, stopping occasionally to help ourselves to a plum or a fig from a branch extending out over the road.

We had to take an alternative route on the shoulder of a busy highway because the path of the Via Francigena was closed due to work in progress, but representatives of the Civil Guard of the town of Pietramelara came to meet us and escort us with their jeep, slowing down the traffic on the highway. They stayed with us even after we turned off the highway onto a small local road, passing by the Ferrarelle sparkling mineral water bottling plant. We are in a volcanic area, which means fertile soil, hot springs and mineral water, which has been exploited since ancient Roman times! The locals say that the hazelnuts grown here have a special flavour because the trees are naturally watered with mineral water, and the resulting hazelnuts are particularly prized for making Ferrero chocolates. 

Still escorted by the civil guard, we proceeded all the way to Riardo, where we were met by students from the local junior secondary school bearing bottles of - what else? Ferrarelle sparkling mineral water! The students of Riardo, Pietramelara and Roccaromana had been working on a research project about the Via Francigena and the artistic and historic heritage of their villages, and they presented us with the results, accompanying us to several of the local churches and telling us about the history of each and the artworks to be found within. At one of the churches in Riardo the kids  sang for us, and when we arrived at the church in Pietramelara the school band was playing for us!  In the main square of Pietramelara the mayor was waiting for us and snacks of pizza and cold drinks were laid out for us on the tables of the local bar. In short, the passage of the Road to Rome was a very big event for these very small towns! 

The students from the schools also presented us with samples of different kinds of local cheeses, and a miniature jar of honey... I know what I'll be having for dinner tonight!! 

We continued on our way towards Roccaromana, the end of today's walk. The mayor and a number of town councillors met us along the road and walked the rest of the way into town with us, among vineyards with a magnificent view of the Monte Maggiore mountain range. 

The municipalty of Roccaromana is made up of three villages, Statigliano, Santa Croce and Roccaromana proper, with a total population of 950. Here we were once again shown around the local churches by students from the school, which shares the same teaching staff and was therefore also involved in the research project about the Via Francigena. The last church on the list was the Baroque church of the Annunciation, part of a former hospital complex, now abandoned and overgrown with weeds, which is awaiting restoration (as a pilgrim hostel perhaps??) but still has a functioning kitchen, and here the ladies of the village served us homemade gnocchi pasta, roast with gravy  and a dish of peppers and tomatoes! Thus fortified, we were finally able to retire to our lodgings, after hitching a lift in the back of the civil guard jeep back to Pietramelara - tomorrow is Saturday, and the few lodgings available in Roccaromana have all been booked up by a wedding party! 

Pietramelara is one of those Italian villages that is offering homes for sale at one euro each, if you are willing to pay for renovations and taxes and move into the old town centre. Contact the municipality if interested! 

This house with a fantastic view is for sale!