Pilgrim Roads: from Medieval Maps to an interactive Application

Some cartographic documents about pilgrims itineraries are examined, in order to study the abbeys and the hospices where they spent the night and had lunch, the churches, and the settlements they visited. Many road maps and guidebooks, in addition to a large variety of documents about this subject, have been existing since the 13th century: they are critically analyzed to understand their role in the field of pilgrimage over the different historic periods. Some efforts are focused on the Iter de Londinio in Terram Sanctam drawn by Matthew Paris from England in the 13th century and on the map by Erhard Etzlaub, who provided German pilgrims en route to Rome during the Holy Year 1500 with a detailed map. These documents were made in different periods, with different instruments (the former is a manuscript, the latter is a printed map), but they both clearly sketch some itineraries through Europe, recognizable even nowadays. The aims of the analysis are two: recognition of old itineraries currently visible and proposal of an interactive application about a section of the pilgrim itineraries, mainly for tourists. This is a sort of interactive guide that will show both the reconstruction of an ancient itinerary and the information about every element of interest along it (as abbeys, churches, villages, landscape, environment, etc.). This interactive guide has been inspired by previous applications for tourist itineraries, particularly walking tours.