History

running from Gambassi Terme to San Miniato on the Via Francigena

The T30 Run - a recreational running and walking event along stage 30 of the Via Francigena - was born from an intuition shared with me by Ivano Leoni. The idea had been brewing for some time and has its roots in a discussion between Leoni himself, the Mayor of San Miniato Simone Giglioli, and Tiziano Mazzotti, a reference figure for the Municipality of Gambassi Terme, on how to enhance this extraordinary stretch of the Francigena through a sporting event open to everyone.

Ivano, always passionate about athletics, has a deep connection with San Miniato, his hometown. Over time, he has dedicated energy and commitment to numerous volunteer initiatives, always oriented towards the good of the community. San Miniato is a fascinating place: perched on a hill between Pisa and Florence, it has been for centuries a strategic point contested between Florentines, Lucchese, and Pisans.

Frederick Barbarossa first, and his nephew Frederick II later, left an indelible mark, having fortifications and the famous Tower built, which still today bears the name of the Swabian emperor.

The Via Francigena passes through this territory, continuing towards Rome through the countryside and touching, among its stages, Gambassi Terme. The untouched beauty of these places inspired the desire to create an event capable of uniting sport, history, art, and nature.

Along the route of Stage 30, you encounter treasures such as the Pieve di Chianni, the Castle and Pieve di Coiano, the Pieve di San Genesio elevated to Cathedral in 1622, but also castles, fortresses, villages, and churches that tell centuries of history.

It’s an intertwining of memories that starts from the Castle of Cigoli, birthplace of Francesco Sforza - future Lord of Milan - and Lodovico Cardi, known as il Cigoli, a painter of extraordinary sensitivity active between mannerism and baroque.

San Miniato has also welcomed illustrious personalities such as Napoleon Bonaparte - who passed through twice - and Michelangelo Buonarroti, who on September 22, 1533, met Pope Clement VII here to discuss the creation of the fresco of the Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel.

A young Giosuè Carducci also left his mark, a teacher at the city high school who, in the shadow of the tower, wrote and published his first book of poems “Le Rime,” and the Taviani brothers, directors of La Notte di San Lorenzo.

And we cannot forget Giovanni Gonnelli, the blind sculptor from Gambassi Terme, known as “il Cieco di Gambassi,” capable of creating portraits and busts with only the sense of touch. The moment that more than any other pushed me to accept Ivano’s proposal was the encounter with the marvelous Sala delle Sette Virtù, Sala Leonis, kept in the Palazzo Comunale of San Miniato, restored at the end of the nineteenth century by Galileo Chini. The Florentine artist, a giant of Liberty-Deco, left immortal works also in my hometown, Salsomaggiore Terme, such as the frescoes of the Grand Hotel des Thermes and the Terme Berzieri, which in 2023 celebrated their centenary. As a running enthusiast - almost a “chronic patient” - I had already conceived in 1998 the Maratona delle Terre Verdiane, followed by the Ultra K Marathon, 50 km immersed in the landscapes around Salsomaggiore. For this reason, I enthusiastically accepted the challenge launched by Ivano Leoni and Tiziano Mazzotti: to make the T30 Run grow and give it an international breath, with San Miniato and Gambassi Terme as strategic poles along the Francigena.

To the memory of Massimo Tedeschi - unforgettable Mayor of Fidenza and Salsomaggiore, promoter of the sporting initiatives that I had the honor of organizing and founder of the European Association of the Via Francigena - we dedicate with gratitude the race of September 28, 2025.

GianCarlo Chittolini

In memory of Massimo Tedeschi

Massimo Tedeschi (on the left in the photo) was a great friend, as well as Mayor of Fidenza for 13 years and Mayor of Salsomaggiore for 5 years; he was also a parliamentarian in the DS group. Over these years, there have been many occasions when my path crossed with Massimo's, particularly as Mayor. In this regard, in this role, he always knew how to listen to individuals and return to the Cities perspectives, and not only, of services and work. It wasn't difficult to collaborate with Him because curiosity combined with reason and intuition.

With these two tools, he implemented his greatest work: the European Association of the Via Francigena.

A Way, the Francigena, that unites Northern Europe with the Mediterranean and in which he was able to experiment with the many areas and languages he knew how to practice: history, economics, politics, culture. With passion and determination, he built a network that, involving Bodies, Institutions, and Associations, restored meaning to the Via Francigena, a way of dialogue and confrontation. In fact, he was the first to recognize the value of this road that connects different European countries and founded, in April 2001, with 34 municipalities and provinces, the Association of Italian municipalities on the Via Francigena, then transformed in 2005 into the European Association of the Via Francigena. A reality in continuous growth, which today includes 243 local bodies, 90 non-profit organizations, and 400 private operators.

For this his broad European vision to which he dedicated so much, many will be indebted to him: medium-sized cities, small urban centers, Cathedrals, and Pievi. It was Massimo himself who, in 1997, welcomed with great enthusiasm my idea of wanting to organize the Maratona dei luoghi Verdiani - a race that, for 30 years now, unites and crosses that “slice of land” that from the Via Emilia reaches the Po, as Giovannino Guareschi loved to call it.

From Salsomaggiore to Fidenza, Fontanellato, Soragna, and Busseto.

I like to remember him in this new initiative that we have undertaken with Ivano Leoni and Tiziano Mazzotti. It’s very beautiful to dedicate to him the Tappa 30 Run, thus titled “Memorial Massimo Tedeschi” which, in reverse, brings athletes and walkers from Gambassi Terme to San Miniato; so that his memory is expressed in walks, runs, trials, reviews, festivals, and a thousand other initiatives that Massimo would have desired for the 2,600 Km of His Francigena.

Giancarlo "Spino" Chittolini