St. Martin Pilgrimage Trail Opens in Corsica 2024 | EUROtoday

The very first thing you discover once you come to Patrimonio, in Corsica, is the kindness and heat generosity of the locals. First, they give you handfuls of Clementines – its November and the fruit is in abundance on the bushes. Then, every so often, they break into track, however not simply any track; conventional polyphonic songs, sung in a cappella. They may be both non secular or secular hymns, motets, and funeral songs.

I flew to the island on a one-hour flight from Marseille to Bastia to hitch the residents celebrating the tip of wine season in honor of San Martinu, the patron saint of winegrowers, held on November 10-11, yearly. San Martinu pageant is a joyous event the place all of the native wine producers open the doorways to their cellars (out of 9 PDO areas in Corsica, the Patrimonio appellation is the oldest one, courting again to 1968), and the native farmers convey meals to share, together with every kind of meat (lamb and Figatellu), honey and Brocciu cheese.

With roughly 971 residents, everybody is aware of everybody within the village. In three days alone I met the native mayor, José Poggioli, the deputy mayor Brigitte Fratacci, wine maker Antoine Arena and his sons Antoine-Marie and Jean-Baptiste and Marie-Antoinette Maupertuis, President of the Corsican Assembly.

The location of lunchtime feasts are by word-of-mouth solely and it is an intimate affair with reside music, singing, a number of laughter and consuming. It was an actual privilege to be invited to take a seat at their desk, to reside like a neighborhood, and hearken to their tales about life within the village. Far faraway from the height summer season season, when it is overcrowded with vacationers, this felt genuine.

Christian Andreani is the organizer of San Martinu at Patrimonio Festival and its previous Rurality Festival (Festival of Rural Life) celebrating native agriculture, the place this yr it launched a marketing campaign to spotlight “lagnellu nustrale, suckling lamb,” (suckling lamb) to advertise this emblematic product of Corsican agriculture and livestock farming.

Andreani is on the event committee to recreate a pilgrimage path (just like the Camino de Santiago in Spain), emulating the Via Sancti Martini cultural route throughout Europe, celebrating Saint Martin. People can hike from Patrimonio to Bastia and the path will open in 2024.

In the longer term, the Corsican a part of the route is deliberate to be over 100 km taking in Nebbiu-Conca d’Oru, Cap CorseEastern Corsica… The goal is to cowl the complete territory, from North to South.

“This 4th-century Roman legionary left a significant cultural heritage on the island and the Via Sancti Martini pilgrimage route honors him throughout Europe. With an impressive 76 buildings or sites dedicated to his name, he is undeniably one of Corsica’s most venerated saints,” stated Andreani.

“His legacy extends far beyond Corsica’s borders: he had a huge impact on all European territories. He founded one of the first monasteries to be set up in France in Ligugé, Vienne. He was behind the creation of monastic orders such as the Benedictines, who managed rural areas in Europe for centuries, and he became the protector of agricultural production throughout Europe.

“It was in his footsteps that the Via Sancti Martini cultural route was born, which stretches over 2,500 kilometers, from Szombathely in Hungary to Tours in France, covering more than 10 European countries.

“The committee of the Festivale de la Ruralità has been in talks since 2008 to develop a Council of Europe itinerary to extend this walking trail across Corsica, including 110 municipalities on the island that have a Saint Martin heritage. The first stage of the Via San Martinu Corsica route – some 15 km – will be accessible next summer between Patrimoniu and Ville di Petrabugno. To date, there are two heritage trails that have been restored, and this first stage of the route will link the two. It’s unique, because from the Pigno massif you can see two seas, the Mediterranean and the Tyrrhenian.”

“It will reflect an itinerary that offers pilgrim walkers an ethical, social and environmental journey, part of a sustainable tourism project on a smaller scale. The route allows time to learn about the area in a different way, to meet farmers, producers and local cultural protagonists, as well as exploring the Island’s heritage, and to share and converse with local inhabitants.

“Rurality Festival is also working on a project from Patrimoniu to Casinca-Castagniccia to develop a different kind of tourism, one that will enable the island to welcome tourists from all over Europe throughout the year, by developing the inland towns. This cultural and heritage travel segment promotes ecology and respect for the land that sustains us. It would balance the year-round flow of tourists while creating jobs for young Corsicans. It’s a new way of looking at the tourism of the future, more respectful of the environment and the challenges of rural life,” stated Andreani.

For extra data, go to www.visit-corsica.com and San Martinu Facebook web page. https://www.facebook.com/festivalediaruralita