DAY XII ON THE VIA FRANCIGENA, SATURDAY 21st June. 11.5 miles from Vetrella to Sutri,via Capranica.

22 Jun

Mike and I left at 07.30, making our way up and up and out of Vetrella.

There’s festival taking place – sorry to miss it as the Main Street looks as though it’s going to be lively in this “ enchanted city”.

Huge Francigena mural as we reached the top of the hill out of Vetrella

The municipality of **Vetralla** (province of Viterbo, Lazio) is located along the Via Francigena at 300 metres above sea level. Known for its characteristic medieval village and the woods of the Cimini mountains – the green lung of Tuscia – it is a land of important Etruscan, Roman, and Barbarian settlements and has a rich artistic and archaeological heritage.
In this *borgo*, along Via Francigena stage 42 Vetralla-Sutri, the mural *‘Il Cammino’* (The Way) created by painter Alessandro Ridolfi has just been completed. The artwork was realised on the initiative of a committee of local volunteers to enhance the places crossed by the Via Francigena in Vetralla.

The work depicts three different moments of the route travelled by the wayfarer, namely the departure from Canterbury, the first stage of the official itinerary, the stop in Vetralla, and the arrival in Rome, the final destination of the pilgrims on their way to the Vatican along the Italian section, before continuing on to Santa Maria di Leuca on the Via Francigena in Southern Italy.

Into the forest – for a while it was like SuttonPark but without the dogs.

Leaving the district or county of Vetrella.

Our main objective is to get to Capranica

Leaving the forest we walked alongside and through Hazelnut trees.

A shady bench – better facilities along this stretch but no water.

To our surprise and relief we came upon Capranica suddenly – much better than thinking “ Oh.2 more KM to do!”

A charming village in Tuscia, Sutri has ancient origins dating back to the Bronze Age . It reached its maximum expansion starting from the period of Etruscan domination. Since 2019 it has been among the most beautiful villages in Italy and has received the Orange Flag from the Italian Touring Club , a prestigious quality mark for tourism-environmental development.