Contràriament al que diu el seu seu nom, Espanya no va ser la descobridora ni la primera en emprar el camí dels espanyols, tots els trams de la ruta eren perfectament coneguts. Tal com ja ho havia fet Annibal amb els seus elefants 1500 anys abans, els comerciants feien servir regularment les parts del camí que uneix França i Itàlia a través dels Alps, per al comerç de mercaderies entre ambdós... [+]

The Catalan road, also known as the Sardinian Corridor, was a route followed by the Spanish thirds in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, (in fact until 1714), from the Mediterranean to the Netherlands. It started in Barcelona or Naples to Genoa and from there, crossing the Duchy of Savoy, the country of Gex (Valserine), Franche-Comté and Lorraine allowing thirds - or other passengers - to reach their destination in about forty days.[1][2] At specific points, it can still be visited today... [+]

In 1097 some Bari sailors, on their return from the East, brought with them the relics of St. Nicholas, Bishop of Mira, for which Roger, Duke of Apulia, built a splendid church; this became the object of great veneration and of innumerable pilgrimages. About this time Urban II, being in Apulia, went to Bari to venerate the relics of the holy wonder-worker and to consecrate the... [+]