Via Postumia

In 148 BC, the Roman consul Spurius Postumius Albinus ordered the construction of a military road across the breadth of northern Italy. The Via Postumia ran from the frontier garrison of Aquileia on the Adriatic to the port of Genoa on the Ligurian Sea, cutting through the Po Valley and binding together the settlements of Cisalpine Gaul. Within centuries, the legions' road had become a pilgrims' road.

📜 History & Significance

The Via Postumia and the Via Aemilia formed the two principal axes of Roman traffic in northern Italy. Cremona stood at the road's central point, with distances measured in both directions from the city. The route carried legions during the conquest of Liguria, merchants trading between the Adriatic and the western Mediterranean, and eventually pilgrims.

By the early Middle Ages, the road served two great streams of pilgrimage: those traveling east toward Jerusalem and those heading west toward Santiago de Compostela. The Itinerarium Burdigalense, a 4th-century pilgrim diary recording the journey from Bordeaux to Jerusalem, documents the route in detail. Churches dedicated to St James and St Roch multiplied along its path, testifying to centuries of pilgrim traffic.

The modern Via Postumia project has waymarked the 930 km route in 40 stages, reviving the ancient corridor as part of a broader vision to connect Budapest and Santiago over more than 4,000 km of pilgrim roads.

🥾 Route Overview

The route crosses six Italian regions: Friuli Venezia Giulia, Veneto, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Piedmont, and Liguria. Stages range from 14 km to 35 km, averaging roughly 23 km per day.

From Aquileia the path follows secondary roads and cycling paths across the Venetian plain to Treviso, then turns west through Vicenza and Verona, where it crosses the Adige on the Ponte Pietra — the Roman bridge completed in 100 BC that carried the original consular road. Beyond Verona, the route continues through Mantua, Cremona, and Piacenza on largely flat terrain.

After Piacenza the character changes. The road climbs into the Apennines, the landscape opens to mountain views, and the final stages descend through Liguria to the port of Genoa. The route can be traveled on foot, by bicycle, or on horseback.

☩ Key Pilgrimage Sites

Aquileia — The ancient patriarchal city preserves a 4th-century basilica with the largest early Christian mosaic floor in the western world. Once the seat of one of the most powerful patriarchates in Christendom, it served as the eastern gateway of the Via Postumia.

Verona — The Ponte Pietra, the only bridge over the Adige in antiquity, carried the Via Postumia across the river. The city's cathedral, the Basilica of San Zeno Maggiore, and the Church of Sant'Anastasia mark the pilgrim's passage.

Cremona — The Roman midpoint of the Via Postumia, where the great cathedral and baptistery stand beside the tallest brick bell tower in Italy.

Genoa — The western terminus, where the Cathedral of San Lorenzo has sheltered pilgrims since the 12th century. From here, medieval travelers could embark by sea for the Holy Land or continue overland toward Santiago.