After the usual bus boarding chaos, we headed out of the city onto little country roads heading to Santa Brigida about 20km NE of Florence and one of the many hill towns in Tuscany, (Well, there are a lot of hills!) Christianity came late to Tuscany, and mostly by Irish pilgrims. St Frediano from Ireland was a major Evangelist in these parts, particularly venerated in Lucca. St Donato from Ireland was passing through Fiesole as a pilgrim when the people chose to elect him as their bishop. A brother and sister from Ireland settled outside Fiesole; St Brigida in a cave and her brother St Andrew in another cave on the mountain above. Eventually the town of Santa Brigida grew up around the cave, and that was our first stop. Eventually St Andrew, whom St Donato made the Archdeacon of his Diocese, died in A.D. 876.
Italians consider these saints to be from Scotland because the Latin documents call them 'Scoti', but that was how the medieval Irish, who also settled Scotland, called themselves.
The bus pulled into the parking lot outside town (you'll understand why later) and so we walked into town. I don't recall how far it was, but it took only a few minutes. Part of the view along the way.
The Church of Santa Brigida. By Italian standards, it was rather ordinary, and quite dark inside. However, the real interest was around the back.
Queueing up to inspect Santa Brigida's cave.
Yes, Santa Brigida lived in this cave (under the church) when she arrived in this area.
The accomodation was a bit spartan, but the view was spectacular. The cave entrance is just to the right of the statue of Santa Brigida.
We had some spare time, so there was a trek to the store to buy refreshments, specifically something to drink. This is the main street of the town of Santa Brigida, with the locals keeping track!
And thus it came to pass that we returned to the bus. This is the main street of Santa Brigida; we did see some traffic, but this was close to siesta time, so perhaps the locals were cooling off inside.
Morning Walkabout