Italy is to seek world heritage status for its leg of the Francigena Way, a much-tramped pilgrim's route which once linked Canterbury in southern England to Rome via France and Switzerland. Seven regions are backing the application to secure Unesco protection for the section of the famous hiking route that starts in the Alps and winds through plains and Tuscan olive groves before reaching the Italian capital.

The hope is the UN will recognise the "exceptional importance in terms of both culture and nature" of the path first made famous by Sigeric the Serious at the end of the 10th Century, the regions said as they announced their proposal Friday. Sigeric, the bishop of Canterbury, described the 1,800-kilometre (1,100-mile) route in a 990 travel journal detailing his pilgrimage to Rome and 80 landmarks he visited along the way.