Holy Mount of San Vivaldo

Following the road that from Montaione leads to Iano and going straight at the crossroads with Castelfalfi you reach San Vivaldo. Here, the Monastery and the "Jerusalem of Tuscany" can not be seen jet, since they are located in a large wooded area called “Boscotondo” or “Selva di Boscolazzeroni”.

Following the signs, taking the road to the left, suddenly, scattered in the green park (not randomly, but reproducing Palestine Jerusalem on a small scale) into an atmosphere of peace, mysticism, history, art and life, you can see the chapels and then the Church and the Monastery.

The Holy Mount of San Vivaldo, also called the "Jerusalem of Tuscany", dates back to early 1300, when the Franciscan Vivaldo Stricchi from San Gimignano retired to a hermitic life; he later was found dead in the trunk of a chestnut used to be his home.
On this site there was a hermitage that in 1497 the Franciscan friars transformed into a convent.

The design of the Jerusalem of Tuscany was carried out by Franciscan Friar Tommaso da Firenze between 1500 and 1515 to allow people to make a pilgrimage even without going to Jerusalem that at that time was under the domain of the Turks .
For this reason, the set of chapels (which was originally made of 25 chapels while today you can only admire18) was arranged to follow the exact reproduction (even if otherwise oriented and on a smaller scale) of the late 15th century.

Characteristic of the chapels - which symbolically reproduce the essential places of the “Via Dolorosa” - is the presence of terracotta statuary groups and paintings of the 16th century “Robbiana” school.

It is worthwhile visiting the Church close to the Monastery dedicated San Vivaldo, of great artistic and cultural interest.

Every year a series of cultural events take place at the Holy Mount of San Vivaldo.
In particular, in the cloister of the convent, during the summertime, you can attend concerts of classical music.

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Opening hours and visits

Visits by reservation only from Monday to Saturday from 15.00 to 19.00 and on Sundays and holidays from 10.00 to 19 for a maximum of 5 people. For more information and reservations, send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call the tourist office on 0571 699255.

PLEASE NOTE. This page is not linked to the public administration of Montaione which manages the Holy Mount of San Vivaldo. We therefore limit ourselves to reproduce the data available on the website of the municipality of Montaione at www.comune.montaione.fi.it and for this reason we are not responsible for any omissions and / or errors contained in the contents of this website.

Holy Mass