In the footsteps
of the Saint of Flights.

Three ways to walk the same path

The Original route starts from Copertino, crosses the Tyrrhenian side of the peninsula, goes up through Lazio and Umbria and reaches Osimo in the Marche, where Joseph of Copertino spent the last years of his life. The Civil route instead follows the Adriatic side, descending from Osimo along the coast to Copertino, closing the circle on the birthplace.

From the union of the two comes the Ultracammino, crossing all of Italy, eight regions, two seas. Not a route designed to be completed quickly, but a structure that can be tackled all at once or in successive fragments, in the time available.

Saint Joseph of Copertino

The route follows the main stages of the life of Saint Joseph of Copertino, the Saint of Flights. An apical figure of Italian spirituality, known for extraordinary phenomena documented by hundreds of witnesses, but whose story is first and foremost that of a simple person, often rejected, who found in faith an anchor when everything else gave way.

Born in poverty, rejected twice by convents, kept under observation by the Inquisition for decades, he did not build his story seeking recognition. Following his path means crossing the places of his life in the order in which he lived them, retracing a path not chosen, but which he crossed finding meaning in it.

A different time

The Saint develops along a network of sacred places — shrines, basilicas, convents — that have more than just historical or architectural value. They are spaces built to last, where time is measured differently and where stopping does not require justification.

The path does not impose a single meaning, but puts you in a position to find your own, whether it is linked to faith, personal reflection or simply the need to have a different experience. What matters is that the reason is solid enough to hold up even on the longest stretches.

Travel times

The Saint has no mandatory start date or imposed rhythm. It can be tackled in spring when the southern regions are still fresh, or in autumn when the inland villages are quieter and the light on the Apennines changes quality.

The important thing is to start with a realistic estimate of the time available. The stages are not sprints: each day has its own pace, and some of the most significant things you encounter along this route are not marked on any map.

The Italy you don't see

The Saint crosses off-season Adriatic coasts, villages of the Campanian and Lucanian Apennines, plains of inland Lazio, Umbrian hills between Assisi and the Marche border.

Each stretch changes rhythm, landscape and identity, but remains part of the same design. Eight regions, two seas, a sequence of places that are crossed in the order in which a real person traversed them, centuries ago. In each of these places there is still what is worth seeking. It is found, usually, only by slowing down.