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The Sacred Cave of St Francis in Poggio Bustone: the cave where Francis received forgiveness
The Sacro Speco of St Francis is where Francis had one of the most important experiences of his life. Poggio Bustone was the Saint's first stop in the Rieti Valley: here he would retreat in prayer to a cave in the woods. It was here that an angel confirmed the forgiveness of his youthful sins and foretold the expansion of his Order. It was from this place that his mission of peace began.
A small church carved from rock
In Francis's time, it was just a cave. The first construction dates back to the early 14th century, with the section around the altar, before the structure was enlarged in the 17th-century. The small church, the first Franciscan settlement in these lands, is set beneath a rocky mass, and hidden by the woods.
Six chapels and their stories
A path leads to the Speco, and on the ascent six chapels are encountered, built around 1650 to commemorate episodes handed down by popular tradition. In the first, a stone on which Francis rested his breviary during a storm, with the book melting it like wax. In the second, the imprint of his hood remains; in the third, that of his elbow. The fourth recalls an apparition of the devil. The fifth preserves the imprint of one of the Saint's feet, and the sixth that of an angel.
How to get there
The Sacro Speco can be reached by following a path that starts just after the end of the Via Crucis.
