Via di Francesco in Tuscany: From La Verna to Siena on the Trails of the Poverello

Everyone knows that Francis of Assisi walked. But how many know where, exactly? The Tuscan stretch of the Via di Francesco — starting from the Sanctuary of La Verna and descending toward Siena for about 150 kilometres — may be the most beautiful section of the entire route: it crosses the Casentino, one of Tuscany's most intact and least-known valleys, then climbs the Pratomagno range, then descends into the Valdambra and toward the Chianti Senese. In seven to eight days of walking you pass through different ecosystems and historical eras, with a level of tourism that remains surprisingly low.

The Casentino and its abbeys

The Casentino is a valley enclosed between the Apennines and the Pratomagno, crossed by the Arno in its first mountain stretch. Here stand two of Italy's most important monasteries: Camaldoli, founded in 1012 by Saint Romuald in the hermitage that still bears the same name, and Vallombrosa, an eleventh-century Benedictine abbey set in a forest of fir trees. Both are still inhabited by monks who sell monastery products — liqueurs, honey, cured meats — in their respective shops. The Forest of Camaldoli is a reserve where trees have not been felled for centuries: a centuries-old beech can have a girth of more than two metres.

The Pratomagno and the descent toward Siena

After the abbeys, the trail climbs to the Pratomagno ridge (highest point: 1,592 m at the Croce di Pratomagno), with views stretching from the Chianti to the Umbrian Apennines. The descent into the Valdambra leads through villages such as Loro Ciuffenna, with its medieval mill still working on the stream, and Gropina, where the twelfth- to thirteenth-century Romanesque parish church, with origins going back to the Lombard era, is one of the most intact early medieval monuments in Italy. The entry into Sienese territory comes through the crete — the lunar landscape of white clay and badlands that characterises southern Tuscany — before reaching Siena through the Porta Ovile.

Accommodation and season

The monasteries along the route welcome pilgrims in their guesthouses for 25–40 euros a night, often with dinner and breakfast included. Parish halls in the smaller villages frequently open their doors to walkers holding the credential. The ideal season is May to June, when the Pratomagno meadows are still green and the Valdambra has not yet been dried out by the summer sun. October brings the Casentino's autumn colours — beeches and maples turning red and orange — and the scent of porcini mushrooms that permeates every mountain inn.