Nature Itinerary and the Bosco of Fate in La Verna

A naturalistic excursion to reach The Verna

STAY AND EAT IN NATIONAL PARK

The National Park of the Forests in Casentino, Mont Falterona and Campigna

The historic villages on the slopes of Pratomagno

Excursions and walks on the splendid Pratomagno massif

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The Sacred Mount of the Verna and its Franciscan Sanctuary are well known in the world primarily due to their high spiritual value, but also for the very particular environmental area in which this place is located. Also, its architectural and artistic aspects have particular importance.
Hundreds of thousands of tourists visit The Verna every year. During certain periods in the summer and during certain holidays, this leads to difficulties in finding a parking spot even in the large parking lots. For those who love walks, excursions and trekking, why not reach the Verna by foot? The visit to this sacred place of Dantesque memory will become even more charming for several reasons. First, because we will discover the unexpected and simultaneously incredible naturalistic values of this mount. Second, because we will cover streets and paths of historic importance. Last, but not least if we consider its charm, because in order to reach the Verna we will use the same paths that were used by Saint Francis eight-hundred years ago.
All of this is reason enough to decide to go on this excursion even when there are no parking problems; it is a reasonable hike that anyone who loves walking can do. The length of the itinerary described by this section's pictures and text is approximately 4.5 kilometers with an elevation gain of 180 meters. Considering a leisurely pace rather than a trekking pace, and also some stops for admiring the naturalistic surroundings, completing the excursion takes about 2 hours. We must also consider how much time we want to spend at the Verna, which can be highly variable depending on our personal interests regarding religion, art, environment, as well as time needed to relax, rest, or have meals or snacks.
This itinerary starts from Chiusi della Verna, more precisely from the square of the Visitors Centre of the Casentino Forests National Park, which is a few meters away from the Municipal Palace. This will allow us to discover the lesser-known aspects of the Sacred Franciscan Mount. We will see the area that once was its vegetable gardens, which were well known for the medicinal herbs that were grown there; we will find ourselves at the Reef of the Stigmata's feet and in the grassland and forest adjacent to it. We will pass next to the Chapel of the Birds and, after visiting the churches and the classic places of the Verna, we will return to the starting point passing throught the Forest of the Fairies. It will then be easy to understand why this naturalistic place carries this fairy-tale name.