The sanctuary of Padre Pio
On the slopes of the Gargano, at about 570 metres, San Giovanni Rotondo is one of the most visited pilgrimage destinations in the world, with millions of visitors every year, thanks to Padre Pio of Pietrelcina (1887 to 1968), the Capuchin friar who lived here for over fifty years and was proclaimed a saint in 2002. Famous for the stigmata, the wounds of Christ on his hands, feet and side, which he bore for fifty years, for his long hours in the confessional and for the miracles attributed to him, he attracted crowds of faithful already during his lifetime.
The pilgrimage centres on the friary of Santa Maria delle Grazie, where Padre Pio lived: you can visit the old church, the cell where he lived, the choir where he received the stigmata in 1918 and the places of his daily life. Next to it, the great modern Church of Padre Pio, designed by the architect Renzo Piano and consecrated in 2004, can hold about 6,500 people inside and 30,000 in the churchyard, with a roof supported by great stone arches arranged like a shell; in the crypt below, decorated with gold mosaics by Marko Rupnik, the body of the saint is displayed in a glass urn. Padre Pio also founded the Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, a large hospital, one of the most important in southern Italy.
Tip: the Via Crucis on the slopes of Monte Castellano, with bronze sculptures, is a moving walk; the sanctuary is crowded on 23 September, the saint's feast day.
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