Historical Hamlets in the vicinity
Historical Center
Chiusi, a typical village in the central Apennines, lies at an altitude of 950 metres on the southern slope of the Foreste Casentinesi, Monte Falterona and Campiglia National Park. An ancient paved road leads from the ruins of the Cattani castle, the church and the Podesteria building; descending into the valley, it passes through the oldest part of Chiusi della Verna. Although heavily altered over the centuries, the layout of the houses and streets gives us an idea of what the small village at the foot of the castle must have looked like; of the original historic centre, ‘Casa Marcucci’ is well preserved, where, beneath an arch, lies the entrance to the fortress with several coats of arms incorporated into the masonry.
Once you reach the small square, once the centre of the village and now home to the War Memorial, you can return to the modern village and from there, through the Bosco delle Fate, climb up to Monte della Verna, or alternatively take a path on the left leading to the hamlet of La Rocca.
As late as the early 1800s, Chiusi consisted solely of this small hamlet of a few houses, home to a few hundred people. The history of this community is closely linked to the Sanctuary of La Verna and, to celebrate this connection, in 1928 the municipality changed its name from “Chiusi in Casentino” to “Chiusi della Verna”.
Vezzano
We are at an altitude of around 880 metres, and this small village of stone houses and narrow alleyways transports us back to a distant medieval era. During the Middle Ages, in fact, Vezzano was an ancient outpost of Chiusi Castle, owned by the ancient family of the Counts of Cattani. In 1300, it passed to the Tarlati di Pietramala family of Arezzo, before coming under the jurisdiction of the Florentine Republic, along with Chiusi, in 1385.
In the small square of the charming village centre stands the church of Santa Maria Assunta which, as a parish church, has been equipped since its construction with a baptismal font to which all the children from the surrounding area were brought, almost certainly including those from Chiusi.
A unique plaque on the side of the church recalls how, according to an ancient account, the young Michelangelo Buonarroti was baptised here.
La Rocca
According to tradition, the small hamlet of La Rocca was founded in the barbarian era, built by the Goths as an anti-Lombard fortress amidst enormous boulders jutting out of the ground. Today, no remains of the ancient castle are left, but the village consists of rustic houses, most of which have been renovated. Within it stands the small, ancient church of St Agatha, dating back to the 7th century, dedicated to the saint venerated by this barbarian group. The church houses the ‘Christ’ by Franco Cardinali, a painter and ceramist who was part of the École de Paris and who lived and worked from 1968 to 1981 in the adjacent house-studio, an interesting structure built against two enormous boulders separated by a crevice, where Fanette Cardinali’s pottery workshop—which belonged to her father—is located. The small village is also home to the studio of the sculptor and painter Faust Cardinali, who lives and works between La Rocca and Paris.
La Beccia
At the foot of the sanctuary, the small hamlet of La Beccia marks an important junction, a crossroads linking Chiusi della Verna, the Vallesanta, Bibbiena and the sanctuary itself, which can be reached via the ‘mattonata’, the old access road, paved like all the major ancient Apennine routes.
Once a place of hospitality, with hotels and restaurants now just a distant memory, today it is recommended as a starting point for the lower loop of Monte Penna, which passes at the foot of the rocky ridges of the sacred mountain, crosses the Bosco delle Fate and emerges right at the sanctuary.
