Next stop? Casentino!
Watch the fourth episode of our web series on widespread Tuscany
Next stop? La Verna Sanctuary!
Syusy’s new Slow Tour is an itinerary through the “Widespread Tuscany”. Still in the heart of the Casentino, we explore La Verna Sanctuary and the Abbey of San Gaudenzio!
At Dante’s invitation, Syusy sets off in the footsteps of another great master: Saint Francis.
In the heart of the Casentino stands the Franciscan hermitage of La Verna, a monastery built on a rocky outcrop overlooking the vast and untouched Forest of La Verna. It’s a truly powerful place, where you can feel a deep sense of spirituality. And today, it’s a destination for pilgrims. Much of the structure – the Foresteria – serves to welcome them.
Here, Father Michele guides Syusy through the site and tells her that, when Saint Francis first arrived, there wasn’t a single building. He came here as a pilgrim, seeking solitude. That’s why La Verna will always remain a place of pilgrimage.
Pilgrims come here moved by faith – many to visit the Chapel of the Stigmata – while others are drawn by the sanctuary’s beauty and its artworks. La Verna holds glazed terracotta masterpieces by Andrea della Robbia from the 15th century, including The Annunciation.
Dante, too, had a connection with La Verna: he came to visit a friar who left a deep mark on Franciscan history and on the sanctuary itself – Giovanni da Fermo, known as Blessed Giovanni of La Verna. Dante even mentions the site in Canto XI of Paradiso.
Speaking of Dante, Syusy continues towards another Dantesque place. One you could actually hike to from La Verna, along the many trails that start there.
She arrives in San Godenzo, at the Abbey of San Gaudenzio. Here, on June 8, 1302, exiled Florentine Ghibellines and White Guelphs held a meeting. Dante was among them.
He aimed to unite the two factions of exiles, hoping the move would allow them to return to Florence, then controlled by the Black Guelphs.
But it didn’t work out – as our own Dante, Paolo Hendel, reminds us…
Did you miss the first two stages? Join us on the way!
