To the pilgrims who once travelled the Via Francigena in order to reach Rome, to the soldiers in the retinue of emperors, to the wayfarers either on foot or on the back of mules, to the noblewomen who in elegant carriages crossed the rough paving of the ancient road, to the voyagers of the Grand Tour who arrived in this strip of land, this landscape must have seemed very different but one that was always laden with a magic and a truly unique charm.