Aulla is located in Lunigiana, a few kilometers from the border with Liguria, on a narrow tongue of land at the confluence of the river Magra the Aulella stream, a decisive place for the civil and religious life of the whole area before the year 1000. At that time, Aulla was already a small village and its importance was linked precisely to its central position along the Via Francigena, both as a pilgrimage road and as a commercial artery. The center of the village had an important role in defending the roads leading from Lucca and Liguria to the Cisa Pass.