Along the Via Francigena
Also known as Via Romea or Via Franchigena, the Via Francigena is actually a net of roads that connected the most important European cities to Rome, the capital of Christianity and the Papal see. It follows the itinerary that Sigerico followed around 990 to go from Canterbury (in southern Great Britain) to the capital of Italy. In the past centuries, thousands of pilgrims and travellers, merchants and noble people walked along the Via Francigena, which may be considered a real medieval and Renaissance "expressway".
And it is thanks to this important road that Siena flourished in the first centuries of second millennium. Not only the Via Francigena does runs through the province of Siena from north to south; it also penetrates into the town of the Palio, in particular in the districts called Città and San Martino. It is not by chance, then, that you may happen to stumble across a brown sign with a pilgrim on it that indicates Sigerico`s itinerary.
If you want to have real slow holidays in Siena , the advice is to rent a mountain bike and visit the numerous abbeys, monasteries, villages and spedali along the Via Francigena.