January 22 1506 marks an important date in the life of the Via Francigena.
Back in the winter of 1505-1506 by request of then Pope Julius II, foot soldiers from Switzerland marched to Rome along the Via Francigena. On January 22 1506, 150 Swiss soldiers entered the Vatican and immediately began their service and became the first members of the Pontifical Swiss Guards. The group has remained present to this day and is now the oldest and maybe smallest standing army in the world.
Five hundred years later in 2006, approximately 80 former Swiss Guards reenacted a memorial march following the same route taken by their comrades from Switzerland to Rome 500 years earlier. On April 7, 2006, members of the Swiss Guards left Bellinzona, Switzerland, and retraced the route followed by the original members back in 1506. They arrived in Rome on May 6 in time for the annual ceremonies whereby new recruits of the Swiss Guards are sworn in at the Vatican. The Vatican military unit celebrates May 6 as the anniversary of the day when 147 members of the Swiss Guards died in a successful defense of the Pope during the sack of Rome in 1527. In 2006, the former guards took 28 days to cover the 720 km route, stopping 27 times, each stop representing one of the 27 cantons in Switzerland.
The guards left Bellinzona and crossed into Italy via Lago Maggiore. The narrow valley at Bellinzona played an important strategic role as far back as 15 BC at the time of the Roman Empire, because many pass trails converged here. The fortress of Castel Grande in Bellinzona built upon a ridge of rock in the 4th century AD today is used for training the Swiss Guards.
In the reenactment, the Guards first made their way to Milan, and continued south to Melegano. At Terme di Miradolo they met up with the Via Francigena and continued east to Fidenza and then south still following the Via Francigena, crossing the Apennines Mountains into Tuscany. From there they went south to Lazio and finally Rome.
Comments