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Posta Marcucci

Santa Maria in Belverde

From Bagno Vignoni one goes in the direction of Chianciano and from there on to Sarteano, and then on the road to Monte Cetona. After a few kilometres one sees on the left the signposting for the San Francesco convent and the retreat of Santa Maria in Belverde, it immersed in a stunning natural setting. Cypress trees and caverns, Romanesque features and columns, a certain mystical beauty all around. Tradition has it that San Francesco would pray in the cavern behind the church: this why in 1367 a member of the nobility from Orvieto built the church and the retreat. The real jewel of this abode is the church, it split on two levels and divided in 3 oratories.  Inside there are precious frecoes going back to the second half of the 14th century and attributed to Cola Petruccioli – works of the Crocifissione and the Stimmate of San Francesco, l'Annunciazione, la Madonna ed evangelisti. On the upper level of the church there are frescoes of Petruccioli - Storie di Maria Maddalena e della vita della Vergine. To an asssitant of Petrucciloi the Storie della Passione di Cristo has been attributed. To see from close-up these wonderful works one needs to ask the key from the residents of the Mondo X Community in the residence nearby. All one needs to do is knock and one is accompanied into a mystical dimension in a far off world of the sublime.

 

Bagno Vignoni – Eremo Santa Maria in Belverde 37.7 kilometres

Villages

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