Marches, between spirituality and art

The Saint Francis Path

You can travel to the Marches at Easter time following in the footsteps of Saint Francis: flanking the unspoiled Sibillini Mountains, through charming small towns such as Sarnano and Amandola and coming across spiritual and prayer sites that bear testimony to the progress of the Saint. In Roccabruna lies a small monastery that was once inhabited by Saint Francis of Assisi, or "the poor man of Assisi" together with his early companions. Facing the monastery, immersed in the woods and among the mysterious gorges of the Sibillini Mountains, from the summit of a sheer rock wall on the source of a mountain stream, the ruins of the cave hermitage of Soffiano, once inhabited by monks who were to become saints, such as San Liberato da Loro, whose name identifies the nearby monastery, which is still occupied by monks to this day.

Another fortress of poverty of origins is the hermitage of the Grotte dei Frati a Cessapalombo, one of the most inaccessible and remarkable cave hermitages known to man. Proceeding from Pontelatrave, to admire the fine frescoed 14th century church, the monastery and the nearby font, whose waters are said to have been caused to flow by Saint Francis, we come to the castle of Beldiletto and the Romanesque church of San Giusto, with its circular plan, finally reaching Camerino, a beautiful ducal town, which offers a rewarding trip to the art gallery, home to many treasures including a Franciscan cross from the 13th century, and finally the Santa Chiara Monastery, which contains a shrine to the blessed Camilla Battista da Varano, an exceptional mystical, literary and reformist figure from the 15th century.

The Sanctuary of Loreto
Another important religious centre in the Marches is the sanctuary of Loreto, which contains the relics of the Madonna, brought in the past by the Crusades from the Holy Land. The history of the Sanctuary dates back to the 13th century, with the arrival of the house inhabited by the family of the Virgin Mary of Nazareth, and for centuries it was one of the most important pilgrimage sites of the Catholic world, visited by some 200 saints and blesseds, and by many Popes. Over the Easter period the Sanctuary is the site of several high masses and an evocative Via Crucis.

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