‘In Tuscany I possess a mountain which is most favourable to things of the spirit… very secluded and wild, well situated for one who wishes to do penance’ – so wrote Count Orlando and so came St Francis of Assisi into possession of La Verna. In his rocky cell amid the oak-woods and brambles above the Casentino he received the stigmata in hands, feet and side. The place has now multiplied into scores of cells, chapels, shrines and a basilica built up against, partly hollowed out of, the limestone crag. It is still a monastery. Countless pilgrims visit this spot, sanctified by the memory of Italy’s most venerated friar. On Sundays the monks serve lunch and one hopes their piety exceeds their culinary abilities.

You need an hour to explore the passages, up flights of narrow steps to turret chambers, down into dank cellars: more when impeded by pilgrims, some in states of uncontrollable ecstasy. The saint’s rope, girdle, flagella, sandals and bed are on display. The chapels are loaded with sacred art which impresses believers and non-believers alike. The scenes of St Francis’s life were unfortunately entrusted to Collina-Graziani, a mediocre 19thC painter – you can ignore them, and concentrate on the beautiful blue-and-yellow bas-reliefs of Andrea della Robbia (1435-1528) and his sons: their Annunciation, Nativity and Ascension are worth going a long way to see. Their Crucifixion is probably unparalleled in monumental sculpture of the enamelled kind.

In 1926, the 700th anniversary of the saint’s death, an organ of more than 5,000 pipes was installed at La Verna. Recitals are given as part of a regular programme of sacred music. Count Orlando’s ‘very secluded and wild’ mountain is nowadays trodden by hill-walkers as they climb above La Verna and cross the summit of Monte La Penna (1,283 m), a moderately testing expedition with magnificent views towards the Adriatic and south east along the Val Tiberina.