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The Monastery of La Verna and the Stigmata of St. Francis
The Monastery of La Verna is perched between the Alpe di Serra and the Alpe di Catenaia, on a spur of rock ( the ”crude” rock that Dante mentioned in his Paradiso), and can be seen far beyond the mountains of Faggeto. Pines and beech trees fill the surrounding forests, the beauty of which has been preserved over the centuries by the monks who live in the famous monastery founded by Saint Francis.

As shown in the frescoes of the Legend of Saint Francis painted by Giotto in the Basilica of Assisi and according to the Legenda Maior di San Bonaventura, it was here, in fact, that the Saint received the signs of the stigmata from the Christ Crucified who revealed himself in the form of a seraph. The Saint himself, as he was dying, also remembered La Verna:
- Farewell, Mountains of God, sainted mountains, mons coagulatus, mons pinguis, mons in quo beneplacidum est Deo abitare. Farewell mountains of La Verna; God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost bless you; be

in peace until I see you again….. Nowadays La Verna has a continuous stream of pilgrims and visitors, attracted not only by the beautiful and atmospheric monastery itself (both in the winter with the snow and in the summer with the wonderful fresh air of the woods), but also by the Sasso Spicco ( a chunk of rock that sits out on the edge of the mountain), the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli (13^th Century), the Basilica, the Church of the Stigmata, the terracotta’s by Della Robbia, the picturesque stone pathways...