10. Aulla (Italy)

Arriving in Aulla, we enter Tuscany. The Brunella fortress, built in the 13th-14th centuries at the request, it is said, of a certain Giovani delle Bande Nere, dominates the town, surrounded by a magnificent forest. Square in shape, it has bastions at the corners. Built in a strategic position, it monitored the via Francigena , at a key stage of its journey, between the coast of Luni and the crossing of the Appenines. The town of Aulla, for its part, has a modern appearance, partly due to the reconstructions which took place after the Second World War. In the historic center, however, you can visit the remains of the Abbey of San Caprasio. It has preserved its apse and part of the original church, which dates from the 7th-9th centuries. The monumental tomb and relics of San Caprasio (Saint Caprais), dating from the 12th century, have also been preserved. Finally, we will visit the San Caprasio Museum, which contains the archaeological remains of the monastery, the cloister, the apse (capitals). In this museum, a large place is given to a pilgrim museum, with archaeological markers from the Roman period, the early Middle Ages and the Middle Ages, and a reconstruction of the costumes and figures of the pilgrim, the monk and the abbot . Not far away is the sanctuary of the Madonna della Neve (Our Lady of the Snows), dating from the 16th century, which is a major place of pilgrimage.