The medieval route is dedicated to Professor Tiziano Mannoni (1928 – 2010), an archaeologist and scholar of the historical Lunigiana region, who conducted extensive research, particularly in the Levanto area and the Zignago sites in the Val di Vara.
He is credited with the rediscovery of the Via dei Monti route.
Tiziano Mannoni was born in Parma on September 3, 1928. As the founder of the ISCUM (Institute for the History of Material Culture) in 1976, he was a renowned archaeologist and lecturer at the University of Genoa. Thanks to a long excavation campaign conducted near Pieve di Zignago, in the province of La Spezia, the remains of a village first documented in 1273 were brought to light, located along the medieval path of the Via dei Monti or de Pontremolo. Further research carried out in Levanto also allowed for the reconstruction of the canal port dating back to the mid-1200s and the original merchant village.