La Verna, Tuscany
Overview
Discover La Verna: Private Tours, Experiences & Custom Travel
High in the forests of eastern Tuscany, not far from Umbria, La Verna is one of Italy’s most sacred and unforgettable places. Here, more than eight centuries ago, Saint Francis came seeking silence, prayer and solitude, and it was on this mountain that he received the stigmata. Today, visitors can walk in his footsteps through ancient forests, rocky passageways and quiet chapels that seem almost untouched by time. For Christians, it is a profound place of pilgrimage; for every traveler, it is a rare opportunity to experience the extraordinary peace, beauty and spirituality that drew Saint Francis here so many centuries ago.
Most visitors to Tuscany never find their way to La Verna, and that is exactly why it is such a gift to visit. It seems like one of those places that time has left untouched. Set high upon the slopes of Monte Penna in the Casentino, east of Florence, this Franciscan sanctuary sits more than a thousand meters above the valley, wrapped in the quiet of the Foreste Casentinesi National Park. The road climbs through chestnut and beech forests until the stone walls appear above the trees, perched on a cliff that seems to hang in the air.
In 1213, Count Orlando of Chiusi gave this mountain to Saint Francis as a place of retreat. Eleven years later, during a period of fasting and prayer, Francis received the stigmata here, transforming La Verna into one of the most important places in the Franciscan world. Dante would later describe the mountain as the harsh rock between the Tiber and the Arno.
For Christian visitors, coming to La Verna offers something far deeper than simply seeing another historic monastery. It is an opportunity to quite literally walk in the footsteps of Saint Francis, through the forests and rocky places where he withdrew from the world to pray, and into the sacred spaces that preserve his memory more than eight centuries later. Whether undertaken as a pilgrimage or simply as a moment of reflection, following the path of Francis here can be an extraordinarily moving experience. The silence, simplicity and wild beauty of the mountain help us understand something of what drew him to this remote place.
Walk the covered corridor to the Chapel of the Stigmata, step down into the rock crevices where Francis slept, and stand beneath the Sasso Spicco, a massive overhanging boulder that has hung in place for centuries. Inside the basilica, the glazed terracottas by Andrea della Robbia glow in soft blue and white and are among the finest he ever made. Every afternoon, the friars process to the Chapel of the Stigmata in a tradition that has continued for nearly six hundred years.
Come early, before the day visitors arrive, and walk the forest paths where the only sounds are birdsong and the bells. Pair La Verna with the medieval villages of the Casentino, the nearby monastery of Camaldoli, or a slow lunch of tortelli di patate, the local dish of the valley.
For those following the life of Saint Francis through Italy, La Verna also creates a natural connection between Assisi and the Franciscan sites of Tuscany. It is not simply a place to visit, but a place to experience slowly. Visiting La Verna is as much a day for the soul as much as for the eyes.
Our own photographs
La Verna Through Our Eyes
Photographed during our own travels and research, these images follow the journey through La Verna, from the first view of the landscape to the small details that give the place its character.
Map
Get your bearings before you go
Private & Small Group Tours in La Verna
Days out with people who know the way
Private Assisi and La Verna Day Trip
Assisi is one of Italy’s most important religious centres and a pilgrimage site for many Franciscans. This is the town that St. Francis made so famous and his legacy lives on and is felt all over Italy today.
Photo Gallery
Explore Towns and Cities in Tuscany
Every town here has its own personality. We know them by name.
Arezzo
Bagno Vignoni
Barga
Carrara
Castiglion Fiorentino
Chianciano Terme
Chianti
Cortona
Elba Island
Fiesole
Florence
La Verna
Livorno
Lucca
Maremma
Montalcino
Montecatini
Montepulciano
Monteriggioni
Monticchiello
Pienza
Pietrasanta
Pisa
Porto Santo Stefano
San Gimignano
San Miniato
Saturnia
Siena
Terme di San Filippo
Val D'Orcia
Viareggio
Volterra
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Getting here
The Road to La Verna
Most of our guests arrive by private car, with a driver who knows these roads and where it is worth stopping along the way. These are the journeys we arrange most often.
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