PLACES OF FAITH AND FRIENDSHIP

Spirituality, devotion and faith in the Tuscan Casentino valley

In Casentino, the aspects linked to faith and devotion have very ancient origins. Just think of sacred places for the Etruscans such as the altar of Pieve a Socana and the Lake of Idols on Monte Falterona. We are talking about the fifth century BC. To have the first testimonies of Christian faith in this land we have to wait until the eighth - ninth century, when the first churches were built. In Socana and Romena, archaeological excavations have brought to light the remains. The second half of the 10th century saw the spread of monasticism in Casentino with the foundation of important abbeys such as Santa Trinita in Alpe, Strumi, Badia Prataglia and, in the second decade of the 11th century, Camaldoli. Around 1050, the Florentine monk Giovanni Gualberto founded the Abbey of Vallombrosa which would have had many religious economic interests in Casentino. The second half of the twelfth century saw the rise of the well-known Romanesque churches that are still a flagship of the architecture of the valley today. In the last decades of the thirteenth century, La Verna, the mountain where St. Francis received the stigmata in 1224, became an increasingly popular destination for pilgrimages. Speaking of these devotional journeys, it should be remembered that the Casentino was crossed by an important road, the Via Romea Germanica, which in the fourteenth century saw many pilgrims passing by who came from north-eastern Italy and Germany and headed for Rome. The fifteenth century, following apparitions of the Madonna, saw the construction and reconstruction of two churches: Santa Maria delle Grazie, a few kilometers from Stia, and Santa Maria del Sasso, near Bibbiena. These two places became, and have remained, fundamental references for the devotion to the Virgin in Casentino.
Fatta questa breve prefazione storica, è facile capire perché questa terra toscana sia chiamata anche la valle dello spirito. Ci sono luoghi particolari che ha il Casentino, dove lo spirito di ognuno di noi riesce a risorgere. Luoghi che ci permettono di stare da soli con noi stessi e allo stesso tempo ci offrono momenti di aggregazione e confronto con gli altri. In recent decades, places of faith with a centuries-old tradition such as La Verna, Camaldoli and Santa Maria del Sasso have been joined by others such as the Fraternity of Romena, the Monastery of the Dominican Sisters in Pratovecchio, the Hermitage of Quorle and the Community of San Pancrazio. Places where the door is always open so that anyone who needs comfort, the desire to be alone, the desire to share with others can enter. Anyone who feels the need to embrace and be embraced, to love others and themselves.
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LACES OF FAITH, DEVOTION AND FRIENDSHIP IN CASENTINO

LUOGHI DI FEDE, DEVOZIONE E AMICIZIA IN CASENTINO

Sacred hermitage of Camaldoli - Monastery of Camaldoli - Franciscan Sanctuary of La Verna - Fraternity of Romena -
Santa Maria del Sasso, Bibbiena, - Dominican Monastery, Pratovecchio - Community of San Pancrazio - Hermitage of Quorle -
Vallombrosa Abbey - Feast of San Francesco alla Verna -