Chiusa Della Verna - in Tuscany Italy
The mountain of La Verna is one of the holiest places of Christendom and is inseparably linked with the story of St. Francis of Assisi, who in September 1224 received the “last seal” of the Stigmata of Christ. Rich in natural beauties and works of art, for nearly eight centuries La Verna has been a centre of attraction to, and propagation of, the Franciscan message.
The sancuary is formed by a number of buildings from different periods, but it possesses a peculiar structural unity. The complex is formed by the Chapel of Santa Maria degli Angeli, founded by St. Francis and dedicated, like the Portiuncola of Assisi, to the Virgin of the Angels; the Greater Church, or Basilica; the Corridor of the Stigmata, with frescoes of the life of the saint; and the Church of the Stgmata, the heart of the sanctuary.
Vasari, who had met Andrea della Robbia, “heard him say he was proud to have been present at the burial of Donato...” Andrea had “made many panels in the church and in other places of Sasso della Verna (...) that kept in that desert place where no paint would have lasted even a few years”.
Andrea was the author of the “Madonna of the Girdle”, with its first examples of those admirable figures of saints that surpass the art of Luca della Robbia himself, of the Annunciation, which for its incomparable beauty of form and expressiveness of feeling remains impressed upon the imagination; of the Adoration of the Infant Jesus, suffused with grace and tenderness, in which Andrea was the first sculptor to adopt the idea, long familiar to painters, of representing the Madonna kneeling before the Christ child; and of the “Crucifixion” of the Stigmata, where his art reaches its loftiest heights for its burning sense of pain and love and the religious feeling that dominates the scene.
“It is said that one day St. Francis, leaving his cell in search of solitary places, climbed down the rocks looking into hollows and crevices, until he found a deep cave, protected all around by overhanging boulders”. Here, on the “rugged rock”, Francis “meditated and mourned the Passion of his crucified Lord”.
An excursion to the huge fir and beech forest leading to the summit of Monte Penna affords a wide panorama over the Tiber and the Arno valleys.
Furthermore, setting out from the Franciscan Sanctuary, a short climb to Calvano Mountain will be rewarded by a really wide panoramic view over the Tiber valley of Piero della Francesca, the central Appennine chain and the whole Casentino valley.
Other typical mountain villages of interest for excursions and walks are those of Corezzo, Rimbocchi, Montefatucchio, Montesilvestre and Serra, located along an ancient Roman route.
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