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ANGHIARI - Churches and Convents
The Convent of the Cross
At the top of Anghiari, Saint Francis planted a cross. The antique Ruga (line) of San Martino seems to cut through Anghiari to follow along the straight line that connects the city with its neighbor Sansepolcro. Wanted by Pier Saccone Tarlati in 1300 this road constituted an innovative urban developement for Anghiari that up until that time any developement took place only around the castle.
The Borgo della Croce ( Burrough of the Cross) reppresented the expansion of the town outside the ancient walls, filling the surrounding trench with dirt while working even through the night.
The place took its name because in 1224 Saint Francis planted a modest cross made of copper there. There is a connection between the passing through of Saint Francesco and the road system mentioned. In fact, Saint Francis, in long and trying periods of penance undertaken on the mountain of Verna, returned to Assissi after having recieved signs of the stigmate. The cross, righfully placed in Anghiari situated on the splendid balcony that opens onto the valley, far from castle walls, became witness to the real-life cross that he bore and with it the passage of Christ. In the same place a little chapel was erected, which then, with the construction of housing and buildings that populated the new town, one wants to give form, with even more dignity, to a memorable event.
At Saint Francis's death the presence of the Saint Franciscan Brothers was even more frequent. Called "zoccolanti"("cloggers") because of the wooden soles of their sandals, the brothers came from Verna to look for grain and oil. A remembrance of their stay still exists, along the downhill, the so called "Ospizi" (hospice) of the Brothers.The popular devotion towards the Saint of Assissi found expression also through the transformation of the old Hospital of San Martino, situated on the top of the hill, into a convent for the Sisters of Santa Chiara ( Saint Clare) It was the second half of the 1400's and it took tens of years before the work was finished. The construction of the church, in fact, began in 1499 and was concluded in 1534. Its front became more distinguished with a portico in 1595. It was closed in 1853 to make room to host a nursery and elementay school.
The restorations begun in 1987 restituted splendor to the building and brought the portico back to its original character. Inside the church you can find paintings by Domenico Cresti (called Il Passignano) and of the Florentine Carlo Dolci as well as a fresco from th sixteenth century of the Annumciazione. The Church of the Cross also conserves the tomb of historian Lorenzo Taglieschi who died in 1654.
To conclude, let us cite the the underwriting of 1868 that transformed the Convent into a hospital. A hospital that funtioned for one hundred and twenty years up until it was abilitated to become a district seat to a social sanitary and a residence under protection.
Towards the Jubilee - Following footprints of the Saint of Assissi
The High Valley of the Tevere reppresents a sort of door between Rome and Europe, which begins to remind you that even before Saint Francis got close to Assissi, how these places were favored by him. Places where he had many friends and also where he was given the divine seal of the stigmate.
Passed along through time, these sentiments keep the memory of the Saint living on the bricks of tiny chapels just as on the stones of streets and piazzas, to where were built numerous churches that followed with the expansion of the Franciscan Order. The itinerary that we suggest calls for four stops, all a short distance from Anghiari.
Leaving then from the holy Mount of Verna and going down along in the direction of the Tevere through Pieve Santo Stefano and Sansepolcro we again are near Anghiari between the Valtiberina and the Valley of Sovara. Have a nice trip!
The Convent of Verna and the Stigmate of Saint Francis
Between the Alps of Serra and the Alps of Catenaia, The Convent of Verna is situated on the spur of rock ( the crude stone that Dante named Paradise ), cut vertically on three sides, whose dark profile (with an altitude of almost 1300 meters that of Monte Penne) is clearly visible beyond the mountainous range of Faggeto. Pines and beechwoods fill the forest, whose beauty has been preserved for centuries by the Brothers who live in the famous convent founded by Saint Francis.
As symbolized in the frescos of the Franciscan Legends painted by Giotto found in the Basilica of Assissi and in the Pala del Louvre by the same painter, here in fact, according to the Legend Maior of San Bonaventura, the Saint recieved the stigmate with the appearance of Christ in the form of an angel and the cross. The Saint himself, with death upon him, remembers this place..."Farewell Mount of God, Saintly Mount, (LATIN) mons coagulatus, mons pinguis, mons in quo beneplacitum est Deo abitare... Farewell Mount Alvernia: God Father, God Son, God Spirit I bless You; remain in peace for we shall see eachother no longer".
The Verna is today a continuious destination of pilgrimages, attracting even entire convents (in winter with the snow, and in summer with the coolness of the woods), with the Sasso Spicco (Striking Rock)a piece of rock precariously poised on the wall of the mountain, the Chiesa di Santa Maria degli Angeli (the Church of Saint Mary fo the Angels)( 13th Century), the Basilica, the Church of the Stigmate, the terracottas of Robbia, the picturesque path in stone, and so on.
The Verna is easily reached from Pieve Santo Stefano (the Parish of Saint Steven) across the ominous state road, as well as Caprese Michelangelo from the road that connects the burrough of Lama with Chiusi.
The Verna is also a fundamental stop on the trekkking course of Great Apennine Excursions.
Convent of Cerbaiolo: The fruit of a paternal love
Taking the State Road Marecchiese from Sansepolcro towards Badia Tedala, one can discern a little hermit grasping the rock, reachable from a mountain road that connects the Passo di Viamaggio(Viamaggio Pass) with Pieve Santo Stefano (Parish of Saint Steven).
Its origins date back to the 8th Century. In the year 722 in fact, Tedaldo, Signore di Tiferno, Suppezia and Mass Trabaria (Lord of Tiferno, Suppezia and Massa Trabaria), presented the Benedictine Monks of San Michele Arcangelo al Presale (Saint Michael Archangel to Presale) the church and monastery erectingit as a place of prayer for his daughter.
The same forest was protectec by Popes Eugenio III and Alessandro III and, when the monastery was no occupied by the Benedictines, was offered to Saint Francis who settled his Brothers there in 1218. Twelve years after this date, Saint Anthony of Padova came to stay there. In 1300 the church was named after Saint Francis where after at the turn of the century it took the name of Santa Maria di Cerbaiolo ( Saint Mary of Cerbaiolo).
In the first half of the 1700's the Oratory of Saint Anthony went up ( a building owned by the church) which conserves the pallet where the Saint of Padova rests.
In the itinerary which includes the places of faith in the High Valley of the Tevere, you cannot miss a visit to this place, to which is valued by the verse: "Who has seen the Verna but not the Cerbaiolo, has seen the mother but not her child".
Convento di Montecasale baluardo dell'Appennino
Departing from the little church of the Basilica (with interesting frescos from the 1400's) many people have gone up on foot, even if just to attend mass, to the Hermitage of Montecasale, on the mountain above Sansepolcro.
Even the history of Montecasale owes its fame to the name of Saint Francis. Its presence is in fact tied to the episode of the two thieves, of which are found, even today, their skulls conserved inside the ancient convent.
Even before the birth of Sansepolcro the road that led to the Marche Region was watched over by a fortress at which during its time was domianted by a castle, up until the end of the 12th century, when the Lords who reigned the government of Borgo Sansepolcro forced the surrounding feudal overlords to live inside the village walls.
Doing this the castle of  Montecasale was destroyed, although, testimony to its strategic importance, it remained a hospice and a hospital, run by the Benedictine Monks, for travellers.
The place was donated in 1212 to Saint Francis whose bed remains, made from rock and sheltered with twigs by the Saint. The year 1224 brings us to his last trip, returning to the Verna. Montecasale hosted Saint Anthony and Saint Bonaventure of Bagnoregio, as well. Alternate episodesaccompanied the history of the convent up until today. The very suggestive  tiny church still conserves the Madonna with child in polychrome wood rescued ( according to folklore ) personally by Saint Francis from the castle ruins. In addition are the very beautiful set of majolicas, ( a glazed, decorated italian earthenware ) from the 17th century, reppresenting the life of the Saint.
The Montauto Convent and the Legend of Saint Francis's Monk's habit
Straying off the road of Libbia, after having just passed the village of Tavernalle in direction of Arezzo, you can reach the place of spiritual exercises known as "Cenecolo of Montauto". The slope is characterized by three places with remarkable architectural, history and religious interests. A dominion of a large farm it is in fact, an impressive bulk of the Barbolana, ecceptional residence imposted on a square plain with bastions on the corners and a central tower.
Having passed this building, a Ciprese woods conceals the Convent of Montauto, while the road continues up to the foncing that delimits the hunting range of Castello di Montauto, an authentic " nest for eagles" a dominion of the valleys Tevere and Arno. To the Lords of Montauto (Monte Acuto, whose county was so powerful that it reppresented one of the last imperial feuds) and with the encounter of the Saint of Assisi, the history of the Convent is due. In 1224, returning from the Verna, is the first time he passed Montauto.
In fact, inside of the presbytery some relics are conserved, of which a strip of monk's cloth of Saint Francis. Here the Count Alberto offered him the gift of a new monk's habit in exchange for the one he was wearing, bloody from the stigmates and with its tears resown by stems and straw.Saint Francis accepted the courtesy of the Count, who on the same occasion expressed to the Saint the will to build a convent for his followers, but it took well over three centuries before this promise was fulfilled. It is said in fact, that much time after the Saint's death, not forgetting of the promise he recieved, he appeared along with Saint Anthony to a decendent of Count Alberto, who recieved, on these apparitions, instructions as to where to build the Church and Convent. It is also said that the stems of which were used to mend the habit of (conserved in the chapel of the Castle) blossomed with flowers every spring.
The remains, confiscated by the Florentines, were transported to the Church of the All Saints in Florence where it can be found today.Since then, the miracle of the flowering of the monk's habit hasn't been repeated. Saved through wartime destruction, the Convent has been lived in by the Suore di Nostra Signora del Cenecolo (Sisters of Our Lady of Cenecolo) since 1960, and is structured to welcome guests in rooms sheltered from the woods and from secular oaks and evergreens next to the Church.
Church Parishes and Abbeys
Anghiari and, in general, the High Valley of the Tevere boast a monastic millennial tradition. The references to the Holy Year of 2000 are not a mere turistic speculation, but an invitation to reflection and discovery of magic roads outside the itinerary of the masses; little things that make it possible to touch by hand signs left on the rock by unknown artists and architects, where polychrome marble leaves room for the pebbles coming from the river and the mountain, in full immersion in an Italy where through its Romenesque jewels, once again sees the light after centuries of darkness.
Saint Mary at Corsano
In San Leo di Anghiari, along the state road that connests Sansepolcro to Arezzo, the eye of the turist will be captured without doubt by the antique Romanesque church of Santa Maria at Corsano ( Saint Mary at Corsano), a building from the 12th century probably constructed by the Camaldosesi on the ruins of a pagan temple.The church is situated near a spring of water on the old road that connected Anghiari with Citerna and rises at the end of the cliff of about 10 meters from the valley where the Tevere once flowed.
Of great interest is the design of bell towers in front of the church,with an entrance dug out at the base of these towers. The inside is renassaince with intresting decorations in stone in the arches and on the pillars.
The main altar (17th century) is ornamented by a splendid Madonna del Latte and would be logical to think of a relationship between a parishioner and the fountain that is found on the premises of the temple. Also conserved inside is a renaissance fresco of a rather rough surface where it is easy enough to read " Evangelista di Compagno ha fatto fare questo immagine". Confiscated by the Italian Government in 1866, Santa Maria a Corsano, beneficiary to apolistic donations, it was sold with the surrounding land to private owners and later adapted into agricultural wharehousing. It remained open to its parishioners up until 1882 and in 1917 it was declared a national monument.
It was retored by the Monument Supervisors and reopened to the parishioners on December 8th,1954. Today the Church of Corsano isn't found in the best condition ( the entrance remains almost out of sight,the walls are cracked profoundly, the frescos have been evidently neglected), but it remains nontheless an authentic jewel of Romanesque Architecture.
The Parish of Saint Mary of Sovar
On the west face at the foot of the hill of Anghiari, along the provincial road of Libbia, before the village of Tavernelle, one can notice on the curve, the Parish of Saint Mary of Sovara (Santa Maria della Sovara).
The first records documenting its existence are from the year 1000, but it is believed that the Parish has even older origins dating back to the 7th and 8th centuries, with a floor plan in the form of a Latin cross with a presbytery, or rectory, and only a single aisle emmerging into threeaspes. These characteristics , refering to the sacred principle of the Trinity, makes one suppose that its origin was that of a mission of the Longobarde population with the objective of uniting the Catholic religion with Arianism.
Also linked to the Parish are the Camaldolesi, who were protected by the Duke of Milano against the pressure that the Tarlati family from Arezzo put on them from the castles of Toppole and Valialle in order to take possession of them between the 14th and 15th centuries. In the second half of the 400's the reconstruction done on the Parish brings us to its actual aspect today, with high columns in stone and a graceful bell tower next to the building.
In summer, the Parish of Sovara is host to choral concerts, organized by Guido of Arezzo.These summer nights, magically framed, occaisionally using the space in front of the church to host a feast, is truly a captivating sight, so much so that it has become the image for the advertising of ENIT ( Ente Nazionale Italiano per il Turismo) the National Entity for Italian Turism.
The Parish of Micciano
From Anghiari, along the road that leads to Caprese Michelangelo, before arriving at the fraction of Motina, you can notice in an elevated position on the left, the Parish of Saint Mary of Micciano ( Pieve di Santa Maria a Micciano).
Facing the surrounding fields and lined by Cipreses, the Parish is encircled by buildings of various epochs that make for an articulate aspect which captures the eye of the curious. Its history is very antique ( originating from the 4th century) being the property of the Lords of Galbino, origin of Longobarde, up until the 7th century.
At the end of the 11th century it was handed over to the Camaldolesi. With the Camaldolese Prior Rodolfo, the Parish obtained its importance up until assuming large stretches of land estates, becoming the center of economic life in the area, where agricultural activity was organized by the Camaldolesi applying the first form of share cropping.
Despite the contrasts with the Diocese of Aezzo whose position was always less present in favor of the Camaldolesi, the stamp of the Pope Innocenzo in 1198, decreed full possession of the Parish to the MonksTo signify the economic importance of the place dating back to its antiquity, are the findings, from the beginning of the century, of funeral furnishings from the Roman Epoch.
The Madonna of Carmine
Here let us conclude our itinerary with a visit to a Sanctuary to Mary situated on the lovely panoramic road that connects Anghiari to Ponte alla Piera, not far from the Parish of Micciano.
The origin of the Convent of Carmine is owed to the apparation of the Madonna to a sheep herder. The verified happening on July 16, 1535, was soon followed by the consruction of the Santuary by a project of G.A. Camerini of Bibbiena, and was realized between 1536 and 1552.
Conducted by the Carmelitans at the end of the 18th century, the Santuary was then given to the Camaldolesi. The features from the 500's are evident inside the church, biult on the floor plan of a Latin Cross with a small bell tower dated back to 1566. Behind the altar, is a painting of the Madonna of Carmine which is adored even today by the numerous faithful.
Next to the church is the cloister of monastery cells. Recent restorations have restituted the original beauty, in a perfect distribution of space allowing a for a functional stay for those who wish to come on the occaision of the Jubilee. In fact, there are forty bed vacancies forseen as well as space for group activities all corniced by an uncontaminated country setting of rare beauty.
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