Le Celle information. Le Celle Monastery near Cortona/TITLE><style type="text/css" name="J-BotStyle" id="J-BotStyle" > </style> <META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="Le Celle information,St. Francis of Assisi, Monte S. Egidio, oldest monastery in the world ,"> <meta http-equiv="Page-Enter" content="revealTrans(Duration=3.0,Transition=12)"> <meta http-equiv="Page-Enter" content="revealTrans(Duration=3.0,Transition=12)"> <meta name="Microsoft Border" content="t"> </HEAD> <BODY bgcolor="#CCCCCC" topmargin="0" leftmargin="0"> <div align="center"> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="833" HEIGHT="473"> <TR> <TD ROWSPAN="1" COLSPAN="1" WIDTH="39" HEIGHT="89"> <IMG NAME="casa0" SRC="../images/Furniture/casa_1x1.jpg" BORDER="0" width="39" height="89"></TD> <TD ROWSPAN="1" COLSPAN="1" WIDTH="760" HEIGHT="89"> <IMG NAME="casa1" SRC="../images/Furniture/casa_1x2.jpg" BORDER="0" width="760" height="89"></TD> <TD ROWSPAN="1" COLSPAN="1" WIDTH="34" HEIGHT="89"> <IMG NAME="casa2" SRC="../images/Furniture/casa_1x3.jpg" BORDER="0" width="34" height="89"></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD WIDTH="39" HEIGHT="317" background="../images/Furniture/casa_2x1.jpg"> <IMG NAME="casa3" SRC="../images/Furniture/casa_2x1.jpg" BORDER="0" width="39" height="317"></TD> <TD WIDTH="760" HEIGHT="317" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" align="center" valign="top"> <div align="center"> <table border="0" width="750" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td align="center" height="400" valign="bottom" background="places_images/celle.jpg"> <font size="1" face="Verdana"> <a target="_blank" href="../visitor/CPOUT/index.htm">View our 'Views of Tuscany' Gallery - click this link</a></font></td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p align="justify"><font face="Arial" size="2"><br> The famous Le Celle monastery in its beautiful surroundings behind Cortona is visited year round as the place St. Francis of Assisi lived in the 12th Century, before returning to Assisi where he died. This is thought to be the oldest monastery in the world.<br> <br> Le Celle is a stunning example of a Franciscan convent set on the slopes of Monte S. Egidio, about 3 1/2 km from Cortona. Saint Francis had it built in the early 1200's. Today one can still see the cell where Saint Francis stayed. It is the object of many tourist visits. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Arial" size="2">A lot of people come to pay tribute to St Francis' cell: a narrow quadrangular room, 1.80 x 2.50 m. and only 1.90 m. high. The Saint's bed is still preserved inside, as well as an old sandglass and a copy of a painting of the Madonna and Child in front of which St. Francis used to pray. Through a small window in the wall facing the Torrent one can see the place where the cell of Beato Guido was built, which was destroyed by a serious flood. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Arial" size="2"><br> In April, 1226, during an interval of improvement, Francis was moved to Cortona, and it is believed to have been while resting at the hermitage of the Celle there, that the saint dictated his testament, which he describes as a "reminder, a warning, and an exhortation"</font></td> </tr> </table> </div> </TD> <TD WIDTH="34" HEIGHT="317" background="../images/Furniture/casa_2x3.jpg"> <IMG NAME="casa5" SRC="../images/Furniture/casa_2x3.jpg" BORDER="0" width="34" height="317"></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD ROWSPAN="1" COLSPAN="1" WIDTH="39" HEIGHT="67"> <IMG NAME="casa6" SRC="../images/Furniture/casa_3x1.jpg" BORDER="0" width="39" height="67"></TD> <TD ROWSPAN="1" COLSPAN="1" WIDTH="760" HEIGHT="67"> <IMG NAME="casa7" SRC="../images/Furniture/casa_3x2.jpg" BORDER="0" width="760" height="67"></TD> <TD ROWSPAN="1" COLSPAN="1" WIDTH="34" HEIGHT="67"> <IMG NAME="casa8" SRC="../images/Furniture/casa_3x3.jpg" BORDER="0" width="34" height="67"></TD> </TR> </TABLE> </div> </BODY> </HTML>