Sanctuary of La Verna
A ridge of beech, fir and gray rock above the Casentino, where Francis went to pray and, in September 1224, received the stigmata.
- Location
- Chiusi della Verna, Italy
- 43.7073° N · 11.9309° E
- Type
- Franciscan sanctuary and friary
- Dedication
- The Stigmata of Saint Francis
- The Chapel of the Stigmata
- Time Needed
- 1 hour to half a day
The mountain of the stigmata
Assisi keeps Francis's tomb. La Verna keeps the place where, two years before his death, his body came to bear the wounds of the crucified Christ. It is still a working Franciscan friary on a forested ridge, and the visit gathers around one small chapel and an afternoon procession the friars have kept since 1431.
A Lent on the mountain, 1224
Franciscan tradition remembers Count Orlando of Chiusi giving Francis the mountain in 1213. In the late summer of 1224 Francis went up to keep a forty-day fast from the Assumption to the feast of Saint Michael. On the parchment Francis gave him there, Brother Leo wrote in his own hand that its praises were composed after the vision of the Seraph and the impression of the stigmata of Christ in Francis's body. The parchment is kept today in Assisi. Thomas of Celano and Saint Bonaventure tell the same event, and in 1263 a chapel was built over the place.
The last stretch is on foot, up to the Quadrant, the stone square before the basilica. Inside, Andrea della Robbia's terracottas show white on blue. A covered corridor runs from the basilica along the cliff to the Chapel of the Stigmata, and below the sanctuary are the rock places of Francis's prayer.
A hermitage, not a monument.
Read La Verna in the order the friars walk it.
- 01 Begin with the chapel The center is the floor of one small room. The basilica and the corridor lead there.
- 02 Keep record and tradition apart The sources record 1224. The rocks and chapels are kept by later tradition.
- 03 Keep the forest in view Francis came here to be alone with God. The trees are part of the place.
Brother Leo's note on the parchment is the earliest witness to the stigmata.
The friars have walked in procession to the chapel every day since 1431.
Santa Maria degli Angeli, the first church, dates from 1216 to 1218.
Spiritual Significance
La Verna is where Francis's following of Christ became visible in his body, and the Franciscan family keeps the feast of the Stigmata of Saint Francis on September 17. Pilgrims come to pray before the crucified Christ in the place associated with that conformity, not to inspect a phenomenon.
It is also, plainly, a mountain hermitage. Parts of the sanctuary are kept in silence, and the forest around it has been in Franciscan care for almost eight centuries. The quiet is part of the place, not an atmosphere added to it.
- The parchment that records the stigmata is not here. Brother Leo's note on it, written on the mountain, is kept at Assisi, which binds the two places together.
- The Corridor of the Stigmata exists for one practical reason: snow. The friars wanted the daily procession to continue all winter.
- Andrea della Robbia's terracottas were made to last in a cold, damp mountain church. Their blue and white are original glaze, not paint.
- Count Simone da Battifolle built the Chapel of the Stigmata in 1263, within forty years of the event it remembers.
- The forest is old Franciscan land. The friars have cared for it for almost eight centuries, and the sanctuary sits inside the Casentino forests national park.
- Celano describes a man with six wings fixed to a cross, and the marks that appeared in Francis's hands, feet and side.
- Count Simone da Battifolle built the Chapel of the Stigmata in 1263; the basilica was completed in 1509.
Do Not Miss
-
01
The Chapel of the Stigmata
The center of the sanctuary. Pray here before you look at anything else.
-
02
The afternoon procession
At the ninth hour the friars walk from the basilica to the chapel, as they have every day since 1431.
-
03
The Corridor of the Stigmata
Built in the late 1500s so the procession could continue through the winter; its wall tells Francis's life in sequence.
-
04
The Sasso Spicco
A cleft of overhanging rock below the sanctuary, kept in tradition as a place of Francis's prayer.
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05
Santa Maria degli Angeli
The small first church of 1216 to 1218, older than everything around it.
See all 5 · 2 more
- The Sasso Spicco A cleft of overhanging rock below the sanctuary, kept in tradition as a place of Francis's prayer.
- Santa Maria degli Angeli The small first church of 1216 to 1218, older than everything around it.
Visit Plans
-
About 3 hours Pilgrims giving an afternoon to the mountain
The procession and the rock
Arrive in time to pray at the Chapel of the Stigmata, walk with the friars' afternoon procession, and then go down to the rock places of Francis's prayer.
- The basilica and its Della Robbia terracottas
- Prayer in the Chapel of the Stigmata
- The afternoon procession along the Corridor of the Stigmata
- The Sasso Spicco and the stone of Francis's bed
How to Visit
Give the day to the mountain. The sanctuary stands well above the Casentino valley and is cooler than the towns below; in some winters the Quadrant is under snow. Go first to the Chapel of the Stigmata. In the middle of the afternoon, at the ninth hour, the friars walk in procession from the basilica along the Corridor of the Stigmata to the chapel. Check the posted time and walk with them. Afterward take the path down to the Sasso Spicco and the stone bed, then return to the basilica. The friars publish current opening hours, Mass times and directions on the sanctuary's site. The sanctuary also runs a guesthouse for pilgrims who want to stay the night.
Arrive with the afternoon procession in mind.
The sanctuary is open daily, with longer hours from May to September. Check the friars' current timetable for the Chapel of the Stigmata, Mass and the procession before you travel.
- Address
- Via del Santuario 45, 52010 Chiusi della Verna (AR), Italy
- Time needed
- Half a day, including the afternoon procession
- Primary devotion
- The Stigmata of Saint Francis
Before setting out
Use the friars' published hours for the chapel, Mass and the procession rather than an older timetable.
- The Chapel of the Stigmata keeps shorter hours than the sanctuary grounds.
The sanctuary is high and exposed. Bring a layer even in summer, and check road conditions in winter.
The sanctuary's guesthouse receives pilgrims and groups; contact it in advance.
Relics, Tombs, Sacred Objects
Relics and Sacred Tradition
- The sanctuary's center is a place, not a body: the spot in the Chapel of the Stigmata where Franciscan tradition locates the event of September 1224. Francis's tomb is in Assisi.
Sacred Objects
- The stone set into the floor of the Chapel of the Stigmata, marking the place the sanctuary tradition identifies
- Andrea della Robbia's glazed terracotta Crucifixion above the altar of the Chapel of the Stigmata
- Della Robbia's Annunciation and Nativity in the basilica
- The Sasso Spicco and the stone known as Francis's bed, the rock places of his prayer
Connected Saints
- Saint Francis of Assisi Received the stigmata here in September 1224 Francis kept periods of prayer on the mountain from 1213 onward. In 1224, during a Lent from the Assumption to the feast of Saint Michael, he received the stigmata here, as Brother Leo's note, Celano and Bonaventure record.
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Saint Bonaventure Wrote The Journey of the Mind into God here Bonaventure came to La Verna in 1259, thirty-three years after Francis's death, and records in its prologue that he conceived the Itinerarium here while meditating on the Seraph of the stigmata.
Map
History follows the sanctuary's own account and the early Franciscan sources: Brother Leo's autograph note on the parchment of Francis's Praises of God, Thomas of Celano's First Life, and Saint Bonaventure's Major Legend. Building dates follow Cathopedia's entry on the sanctuary and the Casentino forests national park. The gift of the mountain in 1213 and the rock places of Francis's prayer are presented as Franciscan tradition. No fixed service times are authored; check the friars' timetable.
October 1, 2026
Photo credits
- Hero. TeKappa, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Source. CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Where the procession ends. Anna.Massini, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Source. CC BY 4.0.
- A way through the winter. Mongolo1984, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Source. CC BY-SA 4.0.
- The rock below the sanctuary. Chiusi della verna, santuario francescano, sasso spicco 01. Sailko, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Source. CC BY 3.0.