Built on the sides of Mount Penna, over 1120 metres high, surrounded by thick beech and fir woods between the Casentino and the Tiber Valley: the Sanctuary of Chiusi della Verna in the province of Arezzo, for centuries a place for worship and pilgrimage, the centre of Franciscan spirituality and today the convent of the Order of the Grey-friars.

From the mountainside, it looks out onto a three hundred meters drop, between caves and ravines, onto the valley below. Currently, the Verna Sanctuary is the destination for pilgrimages, and as well as holding a religious significance, it also encloses historical recollection.

Founded by Saint Francis of Assisi in 1213 with the first construction of the Hermitage, today, restored and restructures after the Second World War, when it was seriously damaged by bombing, it is made up by the Basilica Maggiore, the convent and various chapels.

The sanctuary is a place of worship also because inside one of the caves scattered on the slopes of Hermitage, in September 1224, Saint Francis received the stigmata during a period of retreat and penitence; «From Christ did he receive the final seal», thus Dante quotes the miracle in his Divina Commedia Paradiso Canto XI.

Later, where the cave rose, the Cappella delle Stimmate was built. In remembrance of the event, every year in September the holy celebration is re-evoked.

The Sanctuary encloses also an important architectonic importance, the main building is of 15th century set, with friezes by Della Robbia both in the Basilica Maggiore and in the Cappella delle Reliquie and in that of the Stimmate. The buildings are included in the area of the Foreste Casentinesi National Park and on Monte Falterona, the town of Campigna is the starting and passage point of trails in the Casentino and in the Tiber Valley, so much so that the Convent offers hospitality to travellers.

Through Verna pass the trails marked by CAI (Club Alpino Italiano); GEA (Grande Escursione Appenninica) routes and also the Casentino and Tiber Valley trekking tracks. To visit the Verna Sanctuary, reach Chiusi (motorway exit Chianciano - Chiusi on the A1 motorway), and from here follow directions for Chitignano and then for Chiusi della Verna which is about 20 kilometres away.
(Photo: Santa Maria degli Angeli Church, taken from the Verna Sanctuary website)

March.2002

Verna Sanctuary
Foreste Casentinesi National Park
Casentino Civic Network (In Italian)
Casentino Mountain Community (In Italian)