San Francesco del Deserto

Venedig · Italy · Monastery

The birds fell silent on the spot when Francis asked them to. The staff he pushed into the soil became a pine that stood until 1701.

On a small island in the northern lagoon, owned in the thirteenth century by the patrician Jacopo Michiel, Francis of Assisi is said to have landed around 1220 on his way home from the East. According to Bonaventure, his biographer, he was met by birdsong so deafening that the brothers could not hear one another recite the hours. Francis turned to the birds and asked them to stop singing until the praises were finished. They fell silent at once and stayed still until he gave them leave again. The other legend says that before leaving he pushed his walking staff into the garden soil, and that the staff took root and became a pine. Despite the friars' care the tree dried out in 1701, and from its trunk a statue of the saint was carved that stands in the church.

FAQ

Where is San Francesco del Deserto located?

San Francesco del Deserto is in Venedig, Italy.

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