In the heart of Città di Castello, the Monastery of the Capuchin Poor Clares is unveiling its most hidden treasures to the public for the very first time. The evocative cloister of the Monastery has hosted the extraordinary exhibition entitled “Franciscan Saints and Blesseds”.

This special cultural appendix was born in the wake of the great success achieved by the 26th National Antiquarian Book and Print Fair at Palazzo Vitelli a Sant’Egidio. The event became part of the rich calendar of celebrations for the eight hundredth anniversary of the death of Saint Francis of Assisi, offering visitors, scholars, and the faithful a unique opportunity for spiritual reflection and historical insight in the Umbrian region.

This exhibition initiative represented an exceptionally significant milestone because it allowed the traditional barriers of monastic enclosure to be overcome.

As explained by Sister Chiara Veronica Sebastiano, Abbess and President of the Santa Veronica Giuliani ETS Foundation, monasteries have always been chests of faith and culture that risk remaining inaccessible. Thanks to this project, strongly desired by the monastic community, it was possible to open the doors of the place where Saint Veronica Giuliani lived for fifty years, leaving an indelible imprint of mysticism.

The exhibition featured texts, hagiographies, writings, and unpublished documents dating up to 1860, the year that marks the painful suppression of religious orders in Umbria.

The priceless materials displayed in the glass cases arrived at the cloister directly from the historical archive of the Monastery of Santa Veronica Giuliani and from the precious private collection of lawyer Paolo Tiezzi. The exhibition itinerary was enriched with ancient engravings and refined watercolors depicting the most significant Franciscan sites in the Upper Tiber Valley.

As highlighted by the organizers and the curator of the exhibition, Giancarlo Mezzetti, the volumes and biographies on display did not merely celebrate a glorious past of faith: they constitute the tangible testimony of a spiritual handover passed down through the centuries by extraordinary women who chose to embrace the Gospel following the example of Saint Francis and Saint Clare of Assisi.

The official inauguration, held during a conference entitled “Women of God Between Silence and Word,” was attended by Professor Alessandra Bartolomei Romagnoli, Diocesan Vicar General Don Andrea Czortek, Mayor Luca Secondi, Antiquarian Book Fair President Fabio Nisi, and the entire Board of Directors of the Santa Veronica Giuliani ETS Foundation.

The extraordinary opening of the Monastery made it possible to highlight the flowering of female holiness and intellectual autonomy born in the wake of Franciscan spirituality. The exhibition welcomed visitors by offering an unmissable journey into the living memory of the Tifernate territory.