IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF FEDERIC II, AMONG THE VILLAGES OF THE VIA FRANCIGENA

A path winding between dry stone walls, Mediterranean scrub and hill profiles drawn by the wind. The Southern Via Francigena crosses the Salento like an invisible thread, weaving together memory, landscape and path. Among its most surprising stops, Minervino di Lecce and Giuggianello reveal an everyday Middle Ages, made up of farmhouses, rupestrian crypts, stones drawn by time. Here, history takes shape through the paths. It is said that even Frederick II, the emperor who dreamt of the East, passed through these lands.
Today, on the same paths, other wayfarers walk: pilgrims, travellers, seekers. Each with a different direction, but perhaps with one and the same question.

The Via Francigena in Salento: an itinerary of stone and horizon

In its Salento section, the Via Francigena partly follows the ancient Roman roads – the Via Appia, the Traiana, the Traiana Calabra – continuing to Santa Maria di Leuca, the end of the land, and perhaps the beginning of something else. Among vineyards, Mediterranean scrub and ancient tracks, the pace rediscovers a more essential measure.
At Minervino, along the way we encounter ancient votive chapels and paths that open up among the olive trees like passages of light. The landscape, shaped by stone and wind, invites a more interior step. In Giuggianello, the ancient farmhouse of Quattro Macine, with its pilgrim’s ampullae found nearby, narrates the discreet passage of travelling believers.

In the footsteps of Frederick II: an emperor between East and West

To walk among these villages is also to follow in the shadow of Frederick II, the Stupor Mundi.
In the 13th century, it was he who strengthened the southern routes, making them safer for pilgrims on their way to Otranto, a key port for embarkation to the Holy Land.
According to some local tales, he practised falconry among the Serre di Giuggianello, where today the landscape is an expanse of prickly pears, stone and mastic trees.
In Minervino di Lecce, the cult of St Michael Archangel, a symbol of protection and strength, lives on in the church dedicated to the warrior saint, a place of rest and reflection.
There are also tales of a treasure hidden among the dry stone walls, perhaps left by Frederick II himself. No one has ever found it. Or perhaps they have. Perhaps that treasure is already in front of our eyes: the changing light, the stones that guard stories, the paths that still allow themselves to be travelled.

Giuggianello, between megaliths and rock spirituality

Small in size, but rich in memory, Giuggianello surprises along the way with its megaliths – the Dolmen Stabile, the Croce Caduta Menhir – immersed in spontaneous vegetation, like signals left by an ancient civilisation.
Not far away, on the hill of Monte San Giovanni, a Byzantine crypt carved into the rock invites you to slow down. From here, the view opens onto the Serre Salentine, where nature speaks without the need for words.
And after the spiritual stop, the gastronomic one: small trattorias where each dish tells of the land, the season, the memory. Simple, authentic food that nourishes the body and comforts the soul. Because even the journey passes through taste.

Minervino di Lecce: welcome and shared memory

In Minervino di Lecce, welcoming is a daily gesture. Here, the spirit of pilgrimage is interwoven with that of community: among the rural churches and the views of the Serre Salentine Mountains, every stop becomes an opportunity for reflection.
You can also sense it from the slow gestures in the village ovens, the smell of warm bread and the stories shared over a glass of wine, without haste, for the pleasure of being together.
And then there is 19 March: the day on which the whole village is transformed for the Tavole di San Giuseppe. A ritual that combines the sacred and the convivial, with typical dishes, prayers and hospitality without barriers. One of those days when one is no longer a tourist, but a real guest.

On the Roman roads: the Traiana Calabra

Long before the Francigena, these same lands were traversed by the Via Traiana Calabra, built in the 2nd century A.D. under the emperor Trajan to connect Benevento to Otranto.
At Quattro Macine, traces of that route are still visible: remains of paving stones, votive relics, living memory.
At Minervino di Lecce, the presence of the Dolmen Li Scusi, dating back to the Bronze Age, reminds us that this area was inhabited, travelled, lived in well before the arrival of the Romans.
Today, those who walk these paths walk in the company of history, the documented one, but also the one that can be read between the stones and the still air.

A path for all, a South that tells its own story

To walk between Minervino di Lecce and Giuggianello is to enter a landscape etched in time.
It is not just trekking, it is not just history. It is a form of relationship: with places, with those who inhabit them, with the memory that lives in things.
Here, the Via Francigena is truly for everyone: accessible, alive, intense. But it is also a threshold. An invitation to stop, observe, recognise.
A South that does not hurry to be understood, but offers itself to those who want to walk with a new look.