From the Crowned Mountain: A Pilgrimage on the Via Francigena across the Alps from Laon to Aosta and Turin

The Via Francigena is the ancient pilgrim route from Canterbury

to Rome – 1900 kms through some of the most beautiful and

dramatic scenery in England, France, Switzerland and Italy. Nick

Dunne resumes his walking pilgrimage at The Crowned Mountain, the

medieval hilltop city of Laon in Picardy, for a journey which takes

him through the battlefields of the Chemin des Dames to Besançon

and Lausanne and along the route of Napoleon’s daring military

expedition across the Alps to Aosta. The pilgrimage introduces him

to a Christian heritage lost in Britain and to questions of Faith that

bemuse believers and non-believers alike. The normal routines of life

are disturbed on this challenging journey where even small acts of

kindness can illuminate a pilgrim’s day.

Nick Dunne has been a social and community worker for over

40 years and, until his retirement in 2021, was Director of the

community charity, Bede House, in south London. He is currently

Chair of Trustees of the Confraternity of Pilgrims to Rome, a charity

that promotes the Via Francigena to walkers and cyclists from across

the world.