The Via Francigena at Formello

For more than a thousand years pilgrims bound for Rome have crossed the countryside north of the city on the Via Francigena, and one of its finest stretches runs through Formello, a medieval village about 28 km by road from central Rome. Here the route leaves the woods of the Veio Park, passes the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Sorbo, climbs into the old village and then heads south towards Isola Farnese and ancient Veii, a final section that is closed at the moment. This page covers the Formello stretch: the two half-stages, what you will see on the way, where pilgrims can get their stamp and leave their bags, and how to reach the start without a car.

The Via Francigena, the pilgrims' road

The Via Francigena is the ancient route that linked northern Europe with Rome and, further south, with the ports where pilgrims sailed for the Holy Land. The route recognised today follows the stages recorded at the end of the 10th century by Sigeric, Archbishop of Canterbury, on his journey home from Rome. In Lazio it largely follows the ancient Via Cassia, which in the Middle Ages took the name Francigena precisely because pilgrims travelled it on their way to the holy city.

On its last stretch through Lazio the Francigena touches Sutri, Campagnano di Roma and Formello, then enters Rome over Monte Mario, the ancient Mons Gaudii or "mount of joy", from which pilgrims caught their first sight of the dome of St Peter's. In this area the official route has two stages, Sutri to Campagnano di Roma and Campagnano to La Storta: Formello lies on the second.

Formello on the route

The Veio Park Authority (Ente Regionale Parco di Veio) runs a website dedicated to the route, which splits the stage into two half-stages: Campagnano di Roma to Formello, and Formello to Isola Farnese. The village sits exactly halfway, a natural place to stop between the open countryside and the gates of Rome.

The first half-stage drops from Campagnano into the Valle del Sorbo, a Site of Community Importance in the EU Natura 2000 network, and reaches the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Sorbo before climbing up to the village of Formello. The second sets off from the centre of the village and, through the valleys to the south, leads to Isola Farnese, skirting the plateau of ancient Veii. The final part of this second half-stage is closed at the moment: the details are in the notice at the top of the page.

Formello to Isola Farnese

The half-stage from Formello to Isola Farnese starts from the main square of the village, 225 metres above sea level, where Viale Umberto I meets Via Roma. You enter the medieval centre, overlooked by Palazzo Chigi and the church of San Lorenzo, follow Via Vittorio Emanuele II past the church of San Michele Arcangelo, then go down a flight of steps to the valley floor and the farm track that runs beside the Fosso Pantanicci stream.

From there the route climbs along the hillside, crosses over the Cassia bis and takes the panoramic dirt road of Monte Michele, with the Etruscan necropolis of the same name below. After the ford over the Valchetta stream, at the foot of the citadel of Veii, a last climb leads up to Isola Farnese, which the Park describes as "a little jewel at the gates of Rome".

Where things stand now. According to the Park Authority notices, the arrival at Isola Farnese is closed on both routes: the passage at Prato della Corte, after the ford over the Valchetta, has been reported closed by a landslide since 30 January 2026, and the stretch from Campetti to the Mola di Isola Farnese, used by the variant via Tomba Campana and Ponte Sodo (in Italian), has been closed since 13 February 2026 by order no. T00008. The half-stage from Campagnano di Roma to Formello has no closure notice. Checked on 29/10/2026.

What to see along the way

The appeal of the Francigena at Formello is the way it mixes nature, sacred history and archaeology in just a few hours on foot. These are the stops worth a pause.

• Sanctuary of the Madonna del Sorbo. Set in the Valle del Sorbo, on the boundary between Formello and Campagnano, it has been a Carmelite convent since 1427. Its name comes from the legend of a swineherd who saw the Madonna appear among the branches of a sorb tree (sorbo in Italian).
• The medieval village of Formello. Compact lanes, Palazzo Chigi with the Museo dell'Agro Veientano and the church of San Lorenzo: the ideal place to rest on the walk. For the background, see our guide to the history of Formello from the Etruscans to the Middle Ages (in Italian).
• The Monte Michele necropolis. The path runs alongside this Etruscan cemetery, with monumental tombs from the 7th century BC that belonged to a family of princely rank.
• Isola Farnese and ancient Veii. The village perched on its rock of tufa and, nearby, the archaeological area of Veii (closed to the public at the moment), the Etruscan city defeated by Rome in 396 BC and home of the famous Apollo of Veii. More on our page about Veii.

Services for pilgrims

Formello is a well equipped stop. In the old centre the Museo dell'Agro Veientano, in Palazzo Chigi, gives pilgrims the stamp, left-luggage lockers and toilets. For the night, the Park Authority announced the opening of the Ostello del Pellegrino at the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Sorbo for 19 April 2026, run by the Associazione Diocesana di Volontariato ETS and the social cooperative Il Desiderio di Barbiana.

If you only want to walk part of the Francigena and you have no car, the nearest railway station is La Storta-Formello on the FL3 line, whose trains also call at Roma Ostiense and Roma Tiburtina. Despite the name the station is in the municipality of Rome, in the La Storta area, about 9 km from the centre of Formello as the crow flies, and the last stretch is by Cotral bus (routes and timetables on Cotral's official channels). Our Getting here page also covers Cesano station and the local bus line 20.

Frequently asked questions about the Via Francigena at Formello

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