The 250-km Via dell'Acqua is planned along rivers in Umbria and Lazio.

Rome city council has backed a plan to create a bicycle path from Rome to Assisi, the birthplace of St Francis, in what is being promoted as a "cultural, naturalistic, archaeological and religious journey."

The 250-km cycle route would extend from the Basilica di S. Francesco d'Assisi in Umbria to St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, in an inter-institutional collaboration with 21 municipalities in the Lazio Region, the city of Rome and the Nazzano Tevere-Farfa regional nature reserve.

The project, which is still in its early days, would see the "Assisi-Rome - Via dell'Acqua" route develop along rivers in the Umbria and Lazio regions, taking in towns, nature reserves and archaeological sites along the way.

Rome's mayor Virginia Raggi said that plans for the "unique" bicycle path demonstrated the capital's commitment to sustainable mobility.