Little Jerusalem in Tuscany.
“If you can’t go to Jerusalem, Jerusalem will come to you!” This is in short what Pope Leo X established with his bull in 1516. San Vivaldo, already a refuge for the hermits and a sacred place for some time, was handed over in 1500 to the younger Franciscan brothers who enlarged the already existing convent and began to build small chapels relating to the different phases of Jesus’ life, his passion and death. Since Jerusalem was in the hands of the Turks at the time, it was decided to offer to those who wanted the opportunity to make a pilgrimage without risk and excessive expense. Up to 25 chapels were built and placed rigorously according to Jerusalem’s astronomical orientation, reproducing as much as possible as some brothers were truly pilgrims who had been in the Holy Land. The chapels adorned with frescoes and paintings of the time are now 19 I think, but it is useless to tell you that halo surrounds this place. Does the bike make you look all the more beautiful? maybe there it is!
San Vivaldo is a part of the municipality of Montaione, in the province of Florence. It is a small town located on the road that leads to Iano, another village in the municipality of Montaione. Its Sacro Monte was built by the Franciscan friars, who built the convent and then thirty-four chapels, also helped the company by the inhabitants of the place who carried the stones necessary for the construction from the bottom of the Egola river.
In the papal bull of Leo X (part of the Medici family), we can see the recognition of the chapels and the granting of indulgence to those who went there to pray there. Will it be equally valid for those who go there by bicycle?
