‘For the third consecutive year, the pilgrim roads of Italy have been documented. After presenting the pilgrim ways along the Adriatic coast and those of the Tyrrhenian coast, from Ventimiglia to Rome in 1996 and 1997, this year the exhibition focuses on seven Alpine passes: the Colle di Tenda for Alessandria, the Monginevro and Moncenisio Passes for Turin, the St. Bernard Pass for Vercelli, the Simplon Pass for Milan and the Resia and Brenner Passes for Trento, as well as the routes across the Po valley as far as the river crossings. These roads have been pieced together after studying historical documents: the ‘diaries’ of medieval pilgrims and what, in modern terms, we could call pilgrim “guides”. The first were accounts of journeys actually made, the second suggestions of possible routes. For the medieval pilgrims walking meant going to know the eminent ‘signs’ of salvation, learning to recognise the ‘signs’ in things, following someone to learn to be oneself; walking meant renewing the experience of Israel, of Mary, of the first disciples and of Christ himself; walking meant returning to one’s roots, moving away from sin to find one’s truth, one’s destiny, one’s more human self. This year’s exhibition underscores that the destination, Rome, ‘presides over unity’, and presents photographs of the major religious architecture shown in documents up to the 15th century (and which has remained substantially intact) along the routes being examined.’