The woods where Saint Francis prayed
About four kilometres above Assisi, at about 790 metres on the slopes of Monte Subasio, hidden in a dense forest of ancient holm oaks on the edge of a deep gorge, the Eremo delle Carceri is one of the most evocative and silent places linked to Saint Francis. Its name does not refer to prisons, but to the Latin "carcer", a place of isolation: it was here, in the natural caves of the mountain, that Francis and his first companions withdrew to pray in solitude, far from the world, to live in contact with nature and in contemplation.
The small hermitage that we see today was built in the fifteenth century by Saint Bernardine of Siena around the original cave, and is a cluster of stone buildings attached to the rock, with a tiny triangular courtyard, a well, a small chapel, a refectory and narrow corridors. Inside you can visit the Grotta di San Francesco, the cave where the saint prayed and rested, with the bare stone on which he slept. Around the hermitage, paths lead through the woods to other caves of the first friars, small altars and viewpoints overlooking the valley; according to tradition, Francis preached to the birds here, and an ancient holm oak is said to be the one on which the birds settled to listen to him. The hermitage is still inhabited by a small community of Franciscan friars, and the atmosphere of silence and peace is intense. From the hermitage, paths climb to the top of Monte Subasio, with meadows and views over the whole valley.
Tip: walk up from Assisi, about an hour and a quarter along the road and the paths; respect the silence of the place.
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