L'articolo S Angelo Church (Temple of S Michele Archangel) sembra essere il primo su Il Cammino di San Francesco.

L'articolo Palazzo dei Priori sembra essere il primo su Il Cammino di San Francesco.

L'articolo S. Angelo Keep sembra essere il primo su Il Cammino di San Francesco.

L'articolo Fontana Maggiore sembra essere il primo su Il Cammino di San Francesco.

L'articolo The Etruscan Arch sembra essere il primo su Il Cammino di San Francesco.

L'articolo Cathedral of San Lorenzo sembra essere il primo su Il Cammino di San Francesco.

This route connects the main towns where Saint Francis’s passing by is cited in either documents or supported by ancient traditions. In fact, Valmarecchia has always represented a borderland and, due to its being relatively easy to travel through, a “gateway” of communication among Central Italy, Rimini and Romagna. Also numerous Romei pilgrims crossed through it, coming from northern Italy and from towns east of Aquileia. So it should be no surprise that Saint Francis, in carrying out his “wandering ministry” took this route, probably more than once.

The “Considerazioni delle Stimmate”, a Franciscan test from the 14th century, tells of when Saint Francis, in 1213, in the company of brother Leone, going towards Romagna, reached the castle of Montefeltro (the ancient name of San Leo) on May 8, the day when a soldier was being knighted. The Saint preached in the square in front of the people and nobles gathered there, among whom there was Orlando Catani, the count of Chiusi in the Casentino, who, touched by Francis’s words, asked him for a personal meeting to reflect with him on saving his soul. At the end of this discussion, the count asked Francis to accept the gift of Mount Verna, which Saint Francis accepted. This meeting was thus the origin of the Franciscan establishment on Mount Verna, where the Saint received this Holy Stigmata and where the current Sanctuary was built. In memory of this visit, the city of San Leo inserted the figure of Saint Francis into their city coat of arms.

There are many signs that support the ancient traditions according to which, directly connected to Saint Francis’s stops in Valmarecchia, many convents were established and miraculous episodes occurred. There is, for example, the convent of Sant’Igne, built in 1244 in the woods at the foot of the cliffs of San Leo. Then there is Villa Verucchio, where there is a giant cypress tree in the cloister that was supposedly planted by the Saint and has been studied by botanists due to its size and longevity. The settlements of the 13th century, of the Clarisse and the Frati Minori in the area of Sant’Agata Feltria, were, according to legend, started by the Saint during his journey, probably on his way to San Leo in May 1213. Also worth mentioning is the existence in these places of many witnesses of the Franciscan spirit, an example for everyone is Brother Matteo da Bascio, commonly recognized as the founder of the Capuchin order.

Saint Francis, having incarnated his witnessing of the Christian faith in a poor and simple life, in touch with people, was very loved and still is today. The presence of Franciscans in these lands is still common and the religious fervor that it invokes is still very much alive among locals. The Walk hopes to continue the tradition of helping pilgrims find their way, on foot, by mountain bike or on horseback, by walking in the footsteps through the places touched by the Saint and by the great witnesses of the Franciscan order that were established in these lands.

Saint Francis’s Walk from Rimini to La Verna includes 5 legs for a total of 112 kilometers that wind through Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany, crossing through the valley of the river Marecchia in the lands of 10 municipalities in the provinces of Rimini, Forlì-Cesena and Arezzo. It is the northeastern gateway to Saint Francis’s Way which, passing through Umbria and Lazio, goes to Rome.

It is marked with the yellow Franciscan symbol of the Tau (like all of the Saint Francis’s Way up to Rome) which is in addition to the white and red CAI marks found along most of the route. Besides the main route, with a variation that will be open starting in spring 2017, all of the places of the Valmarecchia touched by the passage of Saint Francis or significant in some way in regards to Franciscan history in this area will be linked.

Discover the steps of  San Francesco’s Ways from Rimini to La Verna

L'articolo Saint Francis Ways from Rimini to La Verna sembra essere il primo su Il Cammino di San Francesco.

The first leg starts from Rimini Train Station, ideally “door” east of the Way. You cross quickly the historic center reaching the first hills behind the town and the Valley of Marecchia. In the city, the route touches the church of Santa Chiara, where probably San Francesco stayed and the ancient cloister of San Bernardino which is home to the Clarisse nuns. Then the leg rises rapidly towards the first hills behind Rimini, where you reach the Franciscan sanctuary of Santa Maria delle Grazie, protected by the Friars Minor. With several ups and downs you get to the suburb of Vergiano, at the beginning of Valmarecchia. Here an ancient tradition says  that St. Francis was hosted for a night in a modest house where he was offered a cypress stick as support for the journey, planted by the Saint in Villa Verucchio. That stick would later become the current ancient tree. Later the itinerary leads you to the beautiful historical and natural path up along the river Marecchia (possible detour to Santarcangelo), up to Villa Verucchio, where, on the hill above the modern town, is the convent of Santa Croce (quarters). An oral history tells that St. Francis, along the Valmarecchia, probably in 1215 from Rimini, stayed at a country chapel dedicated to the Holy Cross, and built a poor wooden hut. This is considered the nucleus of the monastery, documented the first time in 1311.

It is possible to visit the church, built in sec. XIV and consecrated 16 June 1400; the cloister with the famous cypress and the St. Francis chapel. Very interesting historical center of Verucchio that requires a deviation from the main leg.

L'articolo Rimini – Villa Verucchio sembra essere il primo su Il Cammino di San Francesco.

The route goes into the beautiful landscape of the middle-high Valmarecchia, dominated by rugged cliffs and crowned by fortresses. You  walk mainly on roads unpaved and some stretches of asphalt. From the cloister of Santa Croce you continue straight on Via Convento, getting off at SP Marecchiese, and after it you come back to the historic and naturalistic trail along the right bank of the Marecchia to Ponte Verucchio. Here you cross the river and proceed on the left  just below the rocky cliff on which stands the hermitage of Madonna di Saiano. After a few hundred meters a moving iron bridge guarantees, during the summer,  to get back on the ford across the river. In the months when it is not possible to cross the river, you can proceed to walking towards to Ponte Verucchio with the variant described in the guide.

After crossing Marecchia River you can keep going on the naturalist trail to Ponte Santa Maria Maddalena. From here there are some roads that starting to go up and alternating asphalt and unpaved paths, where you can enjoy a breathtaking view of  San Leo (still distant), Pincio and Aquilone Mountains also known as the “Bishop Sleeping”, for the unmistakable shape that is considered an important point of orientation for Pilgrims’s Romea Path who came down to Rimini to pass though Valmarecchia and then walk towards Rome by Viamaggio Pass (called “Via Major”). After crossing pastures, cultivated fields and wooded patches, you reach the Cloister of Sant’Igne, one of the most important point of the itinerary.

From the convent the town of San Leo is easily accessible, by the final stretch with the beautiful view of the cliff dominated by the imposing fortress, such as recalls Dante’s Divine Comedy.

Hence the May 8, 1213 St. Francis received as a gift from Count Orlando Catani of Chiusi, the mountain of La Verna, which became one of the most important places in the history of Franciscans. This episode is considered so significant for the town which St. Francis is depicted in the civic emblem under the elm tree from which he preached.

On the central Dante square stands Palazzo Nardini, within which is located the room, converted into a chapel, where it would take place the meeting between St. Francis and the Count Orlando Catani.

L'articolo Villa Verucchio – San Leo sembra essere il primo su Il Cammino di San Francesco.

You go down again to the valley and then up on the opposite ridge that borders the left hydrographic bank, beyond which, in the Valle del Savio, there is Sant’Agata Feltria. The stage twists and turns most entirely though dirt tracks, with some stretch of asphalt.

It starts in the direction of the rocky cliff of Maioletto, visible from the center of San Leo, while you are walking you can admire the wonderful landscape from San Leo to Il Poggio, a small town lined up on a crest. You can cross it though a beautiful scenic route, with suggestive passages of deep ravines, passing through a clayish area, which may be arduous in the rainy periods. After arriving at Maioletto cliff, turn on the left inside the wood, descending until you reach a bridge over Marecchia river. If you cross it crossed you can visit Novafeltria.

Turn left on the bike path that goes up the Marecchia and follow it to the height of Torricella, birthplace of the Servant of God “Blessed” Father Francesco from Torricella which is reached through the SP. Marecchiese.

The paths goes forward to narrow roads and cattle tracks to the ridge road, at the height of Botticella fraction. Turn left in the direction of Sant’Agata Feltria and follow it to the chapel of the Madonna del Soccorso, from where left a wide path, with even the white and red signs of the San Vicinio Way leading up to Sant’Agata feltria at whose doors we find the Convent of the Capuchin Friars (quarters) and the Convent of the Poor Clares (quarters).

The village is one of the main “Franciscan places” of Montefeltro. An ancient tradition reports that St. Francis discovered this territory, most likely in May 1213. The presence of the Poor Clares area is contemporary  San Francis, as the Monastery of Saint Antimo, whose foundation is traced to Agnes, Saint Clare’s sister, in 1218, six years after the foundation of the Convent of St. Clare at San Damiano in Assisi. It is considered the second oldest monastery of the Poor Clares order. The Capuchin monastery was built in 1575-77. For a long time it was also present the Friars Minor who moved in Rocca Fregoso 1781 to 1820, abandoned the old convent of the Plans, dating back to the sixteenth century.

L'articolo San Leo – Sant’Agata Feltria sembra essere il primo su Il Cammino di San Francesco.