The Via del Volto Santo corresponds to the stretch of the Via Francigena that goes from Pontremoli to Lucca. The destination of the pilgrimage is the Volto Santo, the wooden crucifix preserved in the Cathedral of San Martino in Lucca dated to the second half of the 8th century. This path represents an alternative to the itinerary of Sigerico, the Archbishop of Canterbury of 990 AD. who during his return journey from Rome traveled the Lucca-Pontremoli stretch along the Tyrrhenian coast, thus bypassing the Apuan Alps from the south. The Via del Volto Santo, in fact, is a mountain route that connects the Lunigiana to the Garfagnana and Lucca and, to differentiate it from Sigerico’s itinerary, it also takes the name of “Via Francigena di Montagna”.

In Pontremoli:

Stage 1: The first stage of the journey is the Pontremoli-Lusignana section, approximately 18 km long. Leaving Pontremoli through Porta Parma, you climb towards the village of Arzengio (about 481 m asl) to then continue towards Ceretoli (about 446 m asl). Passing the church of S. Giovanni Battista di Dobbiana (Arnuzzolo), which houses a statue depicting the Holy Face in whose chest is inserted a reliquary with a fragment of the Holy Cross, you descend towards Serravalle and then go up again towards Rocca Sigillina (about 506 m asl). From here you continue to climb up to Vignolo (about 544 m asl) which together with Posponte form the hamlet of Lusignana.