The forest of the fairies of Chiusi della Verna

Santuario di Chiusi della Verna - In the Casentino National Park, on the border between Emilia and Tuscany, is the small ancient village from which we go trekking to the famous Sanctuary. We set off on path 50 which crosses a beech forest with a beautiful undergrowth of ivy and moss. The road climbs up to a small wooden gate that leads, always open, to the fairy forest.

We venture into a petrified corridor, covered and perfumed by mural moss. The forest keeps its promise and it is enchanting to walk among the centuries-old beech trees, silent and lit columns of a fiery autumn foliage. The Sanctuary is a complex of stone buildings, articulated under the vaults, in galleries and between the stairs carved into the rock. We skirt the chapel with the statue of San Francesco to visit the Sanctuary, where the relics of the saint are kept. Both the interiors and the exteriors, with the Spicco stone and the prayer caves, are suggestive and spiritual. From the Chapel of the Stigmata we go up again to the balcony of the Devil, overlooking the foliage of the trees. We continue the ascent, weaving the spirit with determination, up to Monte Penna, a panoramic promontory in the Apennines.