Là nel Carmelo ogni gente
Va sciogliendo pellegrina
Inni e cantici di amor,
Anche noi a Maria potente.
Qui veniamo ad offrirti il cor!
- Inscription over the door of the chapel beside our little house in Bagnoregio (XXII IX MCMVII)
The first six kilometres coming out of Bagnoregio followed a provincial highway; there was not much traffic, but the cars travelled fast and with the morning sun low in the sky in their eyes, it was important to be particularly vigilant and keep out of their way.
Turning a corner on the highway, we saw the vast blue expanse of Lake Bolsena below us in the distance. Our road came to an abrupt end upon meeting a bigger and busier highway, which we carefully crossed, after passing just as carefully in front of an open gate with a very large dog in the yard! The dog barked but stayed where it was, evidently used to seeing people pass by on the road. On the other side of the highway, we followed a small paved road which soon became a gravel track, passing by a field where tractors were busy plowing.
The gravel road then became a forest path. At the start of the path a warning was posted, that on certain days between October and January there might be a wild boar hunt in the forest - fortunately today was not one of those days, otherwise I'm not sure exactly what we were supposed to do!
After the area subject to boar hunting came a beautiful forest path heading downhill to a picnic area, Parco Turona, where I have a vague memory of having stopped and met a group of English walkers picnicking the first time I walked to Rome, ten years ago. For this is where we joined the route of the Via Francigena, which we follow the rest of the way to Rome.
The Via Romea Germanica from Germany, the Via Romea Strata from Estonia, and the Via Francigena from France all converge at this point, and share the same route for the final week of walking into Rome.
Antonella and Walter caught up with us at the picnic area; following the Via Francigena markers as well as the arrows of the Via Romea Germanica, we walked together through the forest, coming out at a spot with a picnic table and a view over Lake Bolsena. I remembered stopping at the same spot
ten years ago, on which occasion I spread out my laundry to dry on the grapevines, as it was still damp from the evening before, when I had arrived in Bolsena after sunset. The vineyard is no longer there, but little grapevines sprout spontaneously from the soil: a sure sign that it used to be a vineyard, uprooted not too long ago.



We continued along a gravel track, waiting for a flock of sheep to cross the road. We walked through the sheep farm and down to highway SS 2, the modern Via Cassia (as distinct from the ancient Roman road of the same name), where the benefits of being on the Via Francigena became apparent: rather than walking on the roadside, we had a guardrail to protect us from traffic, and zebra crossings with flashing lights where we needed to cross the highway.
In this way we proceeded safely beside the highway but protected from it, for a kilometre or so, before turning off onto a smaller road which took us to the top of a hill with a view of Lake Bolsena. Like all the lakes in central Italy, it is a round, shallow lake formed in the crater of a long-extinct volcano.
From up here we could clearly see the city of Montefiascone, extending along the southeast slope of the Monti Volsini mountain chain. And shortly afterwards we came to the 100 kilometre marker!
A great place to take photos... but there's a catch: it's one hundred kilometres to Rome - if you follow the Via Cassia highway! On the Via Francigena walking route, it's more like 125. Montefiascone nonetheless makes a big deal of being a hundred kilometres from Rome, with plenty of "100th kilometre" stamps for the pilgrim's credential.
From the 100 kilometre marker at the church of Corpus Domini, we walked on the sidewalk of the road into the city. We decided to continue along the Via Cassia as a shortcut into town - bad decision! There was a reason for the bend in the Via Francigena route: it takes you to the beautiful Romanesque church of San Flaviano. But once we realised this, we made up for our mistake by walking back down the hill out of the old town centre after we had left our backpacks in our room in the convent - it was not far away.
A bit of history: Basilica di San Flaviano
The Romanesque Basilica of San Flaviano was built in 1032 over the remains of the earlier church of Santa Maria. Because of its special location at the intersection of four Roman roads, the foundations of the church were inspired by the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The Romanesque construction was lengthened and given a new Gothic façade at the beginning of the 14th century; the chapels on the left side of the church were added in the 15th century. The interior of the church is partially frescoed with 14th and 15th-century paintings of the Roman, Tuscan and Umbrian schools.
When we first entered the church, it was very dark; a one-euro coin is required to turn on the lights for fifteen minutes, the minimum amount of time required to go round the church looking at all the frescoes, then go round again looking at the intricately capitals of the columns! The light is yellowish, which accounts for the shade of the photos below.
Another level was later added to the church, accessibile via a staircase. You can look down from here to the main altar and the fresco of Saint Flaviano on horseback behind it. The church also contains the tomb of the legendary figure Defuk, who is said to have died after having drunk too much of Montefiascone's famous Est! Est! Est! wine.
And a bit of a legend: Est! Est! Est!
In the year 1111, Henry V of Germany travelled to Rome to be crowned Emperor by the Pope. According to the legend, one Johannes Deuc, better known as Defuk, travelled with him. Defuk, a great wine lover, ordered one of his servants to run ahead to discover where good wine was served. The servant should write on the gate of the city or the inn the word EST (meaning "here it is"). Along his journey he had several opportunities to write the word EST, but when he reached Montefiascone he was so impressed by the quality of the wine that he wrote EST not once, but three times: EST!EST!!EST!!!
When Defuk arrived in Montefiascone he liked the wine so much that he decided to stay there, and two years later he passed away from the effects of drinking too much wine. His faithful servant had a tombstone made with an epitaph which translates as: "Because of too much EST EST EST, here died my lord Johannes Deuc".
To avoid the same fate, we took our evening meal at a humble establishment serving slices of pizza and burgers accompanied by a choice of either coca cola or beer :) Then we took ourselves to a nunnery - the convent of Santa Maria del Divino Amore, home to three sisters from the Philippines, who kindly offered us a room, as the larger Benedictine monastery where I stayed
last time I was in Montefiascone was full up. Having taken our evening meal early, by Italian standards, we committed the gaffe of returning to the convent just when the evening service had finished, rather than attending along with our hostesses. 😬
Our room is simple, and the bathroom is down the hall, and these nuns don't serve dinner like the Benedictine sisters... but they have the most amazing view over Lake Bolsena and Monte Amiata from their windows and garden terrace! And when we arrived, Sister Julie offered us a plate of freshly boiled chestnuts from the tree in their garden. A real autumn treat!
Bagnoregio - Montefiascone 21 km
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