Convent de Le Celle, Cortona, Franciscan convent in Cortona, Italy

Convent de Le Celle stands on terraces along a mountainside near Cortona, with stone buildings nestled among holly oak and cypress trees. The complex includes a church, individual monk cells, and spaces for communal life and work.

Saint Francis established the hermitage here in 1211 as a place where monks could pray in solitude. The site was later expanded to provide shelter and space for more brothers to live and work together.

The two-hundred-year-old church stands outside the main complex and has a single nave ending in a flat presbytery. Its dark wooden altar was made by Remigio da Firenze in 1695 to hold Giovanni Marracci's Madonna and Child with Saints, painted a year earlier. On the right, the chapel of San Felice da Cantalice was erected in 1651 by Margherita Venuti, called "la Papessa", with an altarpiece by Simone Pignoni.

Wear sturdy shoes since pathways are steep and stony with natural surfaces throughout the year. The layout is straightforward to navigate, but the uphill walk requires physical effort, especially during warm weather.

The buildings follow the natural hillside contours and are linked by small stone bridges that cross a stream flowing through the valley. This practical approach reveals how the early inhabitants respected the landscape and adapted to it.