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Since the Roman times a street crossed this mount and went down to the Marche through a cows path. The place was obviously important, held by a fortress; it belonged to the Bofolci family and it was destroyed in 1187. Then a law from the 24 Signori who ran the municipality of Sansepolcro forced the owners to move to the town.

On the remains of the castle the Camaldolesi monks built a hospital for pilgrims: the" S. Maria Hospital" of Montecasale. They gave it to San Francesco in 1212 in occasion of many sermons made by him in the church. He saw in these mounts the perfect place to communicate his charity and love to others.

Now there are no more fortresses or human traces but just the loneliness of these mountains. You can visit the cells of S. Bonaventura, a Francescan monk of 1257. Of this Tuscan Sanctuary they talk about in the hagiographic literature: miracles and stories the most famous of which is the one about the convertion of three thieves who became monks in the monastery. It's very interesting to see S.Francesco's bed in the rock, in a cave next to the church dedicated to the Madonna; inside it you can immediately notice the altar in wood where a wooden statue of the Madonna is settled (XIII/XIV cent.)

The legend says that San Francesco brought it here in 1213 which is very improbable for dating reasons. Outside, in the piazza, you can enjoy a dizzy image of the Valtiberina, at the back, the grey rock of Poggio della Rocca, down to the valley, a stream, the Spiciolo, on the rock of the Sasso Spicco, a huge rock that stands out for 60 is a place of loneliness and restoring quiet.

Montecasale hermitage, landscape

Montecasale wooden Madonna (cent. XIII-XIV)