habitat rupestre.pdf - Società Friulana di Archeologia

MIGRATIONS AND INVASIONSCRHIMA-CINP projectso. The Hajj occurs in Dhū l-Ḥijja, the last lunar month ofthe Islamic year. The Humra is a “minor” non-obligatory pilgrimageduring the other months, which shorter than the Hajjand which has different and simpler liturgical steps. Whoeverperforms the Hajj is esteemed: he has the right to wear a particularheaddress, which states the accomplishment of the obligatoryperformance, and he is bestowed with the honorifictitle Hājjī. Islam does not consider devotional pilgrimages totombs, though they are very popular. This happens particularlyin North Africa, with the visit to the tombs of Marabouts(Muslim religious leaders), and in Egypt, where many mawlid(literally birthdays) are celebrated.The Via Francigena was originally called Via Francesca orRomea. It is part of a road system, the so called vie Romee,which leaded to the three main Christian goals in the MiddleAge: Santiago de Compostela, Rome and Jerusalem. Theearly documents about this route are from the 13 th century,and they refer to a road through the territory of Troia (Foggia).The pilgrim route followed by the Bishop Sigeric the Seriousfrom Canterbury to Rome (10 th century) testifies the Europeanweb of roads, but it does not clarify the multiple possible alternativesdepending on seasons, political conditions, religiouscredos.In the Middle Age, one of the three peregrinationes maioreswas the pilgrimage to Rome and the visit to the tomb of Peterthe Apostle. This is why Italy was continuously crossedby pilgrims from all over Europe. Many pilgrims stoppedin Rome, but others went southbound to Brindisi, to board aship to the Holy Land. The Sanctuary of Saint Michael theArchangel on the Gargano was an important leg on the road toBrindisi. Mainly, pilgrims followed Roman Consular roads. Inthe post-Carolingian age, pilgrims from the Frank land startedcrossing the Alps to reach the Italian territory. The old routepassed through the Mont Cenis, which gave the road the nameFrancigena, which means “from the land of Franks”. The roadwas part of the road web crossing Europe and linking the mainspiritual places at that time. The presence of these routes hasgranted for an exceptional passage of signs, emblems, culturesand languages of the Western Christian World. This continuouspassage let the different European cultures communicate,creating the cultural, artistic, economical and politic foundationsof the Modern Europe. Goethe has sentenced that theconscience of Europe was born on the pilgrim’s routes.In 990, the Bishop Sigeric has compiled the most ancient journeyreport about his return from Rome (where he had receivedthe Pallium from the Pope). The English Bishop describedthe 79 legs of his journey back to Canterbury. Since his annotationsabout the route and the stops (Mansio) were reallyprecise, he allowed us to identify the original route betweenCanterbury and Rome.In the 12th century, the Icelandic Abbot Nikulás fromMunkaþverá wrote evidence about the route. The name ofthis author is uncertain: Nikulás Bergsson or Bergþórsson. Hewas a Benedictine Monk, and he returned home from the HolyLand in 1154; in 1555 he was Abbot of the Munkaþverá Monastery(15 km south of Akureyri), which had been founded thatyear by the Bishop Björn Gilsson from the Dicoeses of Hólar.The report of his pilgrimage from Iceland to the Holy Land iscontained in the Leiðarvísir (Itinerarium). The journey was accomplishedbetween 1152 and 1153, while the itinerarium waswritten beween 1154 and 1160, when the Abbot died. The journeystarted in Iceland, crossing the sea to Norway and to theDanish coasts. The route crossed Germany (and not France,as Sigeric did), Switzerland and Italy. The Tuscan Route wasnot so different from Sigeric’s route till Rome, but the Abbotproceeded on the Appia Traiana toward Brindisi, passingthrough Albano, Terracina, Fondi, Gaeta, Capua, Benevento,Siponto, Barletta, Trani, Bisceglie, Molfetta, Giovinazzo, Bariand Monopoli. After Italy, a new sea route started, with manystops on the Balkan and Greek coasts and islands, towardsTurkey and then to the Jerusalem. The descriptions of roads,places churces and monnuments were detailed. For instance,in Utrecht, “men took the pilgrim’s staff, the sack and thebenediction for their pilgrimage to Rome”. Other towns werementioned, such as Mainz, Strasbuourg, Basel, Solothurn. InVevey (on the Leman Lake) he met Franks, Flemish people,English people, Germans and Scandinavians who were goingto Rome.The route between Canterbury and Rome was 1600 km long.It crossed the Channel between Dover and Calais, and thenit reached the Alps through Reims, Besançon and Lausanne.The Alps were crossed through the Great St. Bernard Pass; itpassed through Ivrea, Vercelli, Pavia, and it crossed the Apenninesin the Duchy of Montebello to lead to Pontremoli. Thenit headed to Rome crossing Siena and Viterbo.Sigeric took 79 days to walk these 1.600 km, for an averagedaily 20 km walk.The natural obstacles for pilgrims were the Channel, the Alps,Fig. 4 Oìa, overlooking on the caldera, Santorini.volumeRicerca_OK_2012-11-15.indd 34 16/11/2012 15:00:53