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MONASTERIES & CHURCHES
An itinerary to discover the churches, the monasteries and
the convents offers the possibility to visit marvellous landscapes
and to breathe the deep spirituality which during the Middle Ages
made the population build imposing religious monuments.
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The
door to Casentino, the Valtiberina is the best point of departure
to visit the famous monasteries of Camaldoli and La Verna, but also
offers minor religious monuments of extreme beauty, so the visitor
can easily make its own religious itinerary. Our itinerary starts
around Sansepolcro, on the hill of Montecasale, where you find the
convent where St. Francis stopped on his way to La Verna. The Convent
was raised around the hermitage built by the Camaldolesian monks on
the ruins of a fortress. It was an accommodation for travellers and
pilgrims and, when it was donated to St. Francis, the monk stayed
here with his brothers. The charm of the building is due to the surrounding
forests and the panoramic location over the Afra valley. In the centre
of Sansepolcro you should visit the Chiesa di San francesco, where
you find a marvellous polyptych from the 15th century. At Monterchi
you can visit the Benedictine convent, given back to the nuns in 1889,
after having been transformed into a Conservatorio during the 18th
century.
In the small village of San Leo, you find a charming Romanesque
church, embellished with a fresco from the 15th century. At Anghiari
you have the old Abbazia dei Camaldolesi and the Chiesa di Santo Stefano,
built in brick and with a Ravenna style during the 8th century. Do
not miss the Pieve di Sovara, one of the most famous parish churches
in the Valtiberina, built between the 7th and 8th century which features
a marvellous stone font inside. The building is located along a road
lined with tabernacles, "hospitals" and churches which used
to connect Anghiari and Arezzo. At Montalto you visit the Santuario
dei Capuccino and the Castello where St. Francis stayed before dying.
The Castle dominates an uncontaminated landscape, and though not much
is left of the original building, you can still see the so-called
Quartiere dei Lanzi, built in the 16th century. Not far from Caprese
Michelangelo you find the Eremo della Cassella, at 1260 metres height.
The beauty of the natural scenario around the hermitage invites you
to reach the site walking or on the horse-back. The Hermitage was
founded by the inhabitants in 1224, to commemorate the stop that St.
Francis made here when he returned from La Verna to Assisi.
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