RURAL TOURISM TO PROMOTE TERRITORIES ALONG THE ANCIENT ROADS OF COMMUNICATION: CASE STUDY OF THE REDISCOVERY OF THE ST. FRANCIS'S WAYS BETWEEN FLORENCE AND LA VERNA

This research project aims at identifying a new network of routes and historical itineraries for the development and promotion of rural tourism in the Tuscany Region, by promoting forms of sustainable mobility in rural areas, particularly marginal ones. Religious tourism is defined as tourism, which includes visits to religious sites such as shrines, churches, abbeys, hermitages and sacred places; such places are an attraction for their religious essence as well as their artistic and cultural beauty. The ancient obsolete road system, which often survives as an archaeological relic as a precursor of the present road system, especially in rural areas, is more widespread than a layman would think. The paper refers the results of the study aimed at recovering the entire historical road that allowed pilgrims and travelers to reach La Verna (a place where St. Francis received the Stigmata) coming from Florence.