The mayor of Vitulano, Raffaele Scarinzi, took part in the European discussion on the Via Francigena held at Avigliana, in Val di Susa, Piedmont.
The occasion was the General Assembly of the European Association of the Via Francigena (AEVF), scheduled for 22–24 October 2026 in Avigliana and across Val di Susa, with working sessions, visits, and meetings between local administrators, associations, and tourism operators.
A double anniversary for the route
The 2026 assembly coincides with two anniversaries: the 25th anniversary of the founding of the AEVF and the 1,300th anniversary of the founding of the Abbey of Novalesa.
The programme links those milestones to the present and future of the route. On the agenda are working tables on the future of the Via Francigena, including the session “Immaginiamo la Via Francigena di domani,” alongside cultural visits to Sant’Ambrogio di Torino, Avigliana, and the Abbey of Novalesa.
The broader theme is cooperation between territories, cultural heritage, and slow tourism — treating the Via Francigena not only as a walking itinerary but as a shared European cultural corridor.
Why a mayor from Sannio is in Piedmont
Vitulano is reported as the lead municipality of a network of 22 municipalities in the province of Benevento working on the Via Francigena del Sannio.
The Sannio project aims to improve organization, hospitality, and services along the local section of the route. It is reported as supported by 1,526,500 euros from the Development and Cohesion Fund 2021–2027.
That local background helps explain Scarinzi’s presence at Avigliana: a small Apennine municipality bringing southern-Italian experience with route organization and reception into a European exchange centered in the north.
What remains unclear
Available reporting confirms Scarinzi’s association with the Avigliana meeting and the assembly programme, but it does not provide direct statements from Scarinzi, an official list of participants, or details of any specific proposals he presented.
The figure of 22 municipalities and the reported funding amount come from press coverage and have not been independently verified here against an administrative act or institutional project document. The concrete outcome of the 23 October discussion is likewise not yet documented in the sources consulted.
Readers should therefore treat this as a confirmed institutional presence at a European coordination moment, rather than as evidence of agreements already concluded.
