The pilgrims' route

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The main routes crossing the Romagna, known during the medieval age with the name of Francigena, corresponded: one to a part of the Roman Via Popilia, that skirted the Adriatic coast and was called via Reina; the other one to the Roman via Emilia, northern of Parma and to the via Cassia. In particular there was in Romagna the Longobard Via "Petrosa", attended by merchants and pilgrims, that from Meldola crossing Galeata and the Bidente valley, headed to Bagno on the Tyrrhenian coast and finally to Rome. Porto Cesenatico was situated on the eastern via Francigena, part of which was called via San Pellegrino, since from that road the pilgrims came in search of hospitality for the night.
The pilgrims used to stop in Cesenatico, whose patron saint San Giacomo was their protector as well, but also because they could receive free ospitality in the Oratory of San Giuseppe , in the Church of San Nicola and in the big Palace of Cannucceto, originally built in the second half of the seventeenth century. Nowadays just one of the four sides of this big Palace still remains. At that time five big holy places existed in Cesenatico: the Church of Santa Maria of Valverde, the Church of San Giacomo, the Church of San Giuseppe, the Church of the Santissima Annunziata and the Church of the Capuchin Friars. Of the holy places, destination of all pilgrims who have crowded for about five centuries the two banks of the canal, together with merchants and seamen, only two still exist and are utilized, that is to say the Church of San Giacomo and the Church of San Nicola, commonly known as Church of the Capuchin Friars.

In the early of the 20th century at the beginning of the built-up area of Gatteo the ancient traces of the Hospitale of Sant'Antonio Abate with its church (destroyed in 1944) still existed. It had a structure of a monastery or other place of faith, situated near a built-up area and an important road. Here the pilgrims found accomodation and assistance.
For this reason the route from Ravenna to Cervia, Pisignano, Sala, Sant'Angelo, Gatteo, San Giovanni in Compito and then Santarcangelo or Rimini could be an alternative itinerary at the pilgrim's way. San Rocco and Sant' Antonio were the two Oratories placed at the antipodes of the built-up area of Gatteo. They date back at the 15th century.
The ancient Parish Church of San Giovanni in Compito is located on the Via Emilia in Savignano sul Rubicone, where many archeological finds were discovered; these finds are now in the adjoining museum of Compito and testify the presence of the Celtic and Roman civilization.
Cesena was a governorship in the times of the Byzantine Empire which lost, in the first centuries of the Middle Ages, many of its characteristics as a city to the extent that it was classified as a castrum and not a civitas. From the 6th Century it became a bishopric and a few centuries later there were already around 15 parishes in its territory. Those of S. Mauro and S. Vittorio, in the hills, and S. Maria in Ronta are prominent because of their position, being on a route parallel to that of Dismano. The pilgrims who passed through in the 13th and 14th centuries would have encountered a city of which no trace remains today as it was destroyed by in 1337 by Breton troops sent on the orders of Pope Gregory XI. Historic buildings therefore date from the end of the 14th Century. Of particular note are: the Biblioteca Malatestiana, built on the orders of Novello Malatesta between 1447 and 1452, and of great importance in the history of the humanities and the Cathedral, a noteworthy example of German influence (1385-1405.)

TO KNOW MORE ABOUT: Archaeology in the towns of Cesenatico, Cesena and surrounding areas, Villas , Historical Residences and Theatres, The pilgrims' route, ...