History and Conflicts
The hermitage also played a role in the history of the town. In 1352, when Città di Castello feared an attack by the Visconti, the municipal authorities had a warning bell installed there. The bell is still in place today and bears the date of its casting.
A particularly significant chapter began with the arrival of the Jesuati in 1365. This religious order, founded by Blessed Giovanni Colombini of Siena, received land donated by the Guelfucci family and settled beside the Franciscans. Relations between the two communities were tense: the Jesuati considered themselves the rightful owners of the site because of the land they had inherited, while the Franciscans refused to leave what they had come to regard as a place closely associated with Saint Francis. The dispute ended in 1401, when the municipal authorities paid the Jesuati 50 florins to leave.
By 1431, Buon Riposo was already listed in the records of the Observant Franciscan convents in the area. By then, it had become a fully established monastic complex, although some friars still chose to follow an eremitic way of life in the surrounding caves and rocky shelters, as Brother Angelo did in 1488.
In 1650, when Pope Innocent X ordered the closure of convents housing fewer than ten religious, Buon Riposo had twelve friars. The Observant Franciscans remained there until 1864, apart from a period of about ten years in the early nineteenth century during the Napoleonic occupation. In 1864, the convent was closed by decree and sold to private owners.
Today, Buon Riposo is still privately owned, but the caretaker is available to open it to visitors by prior arrangement.
The Convent
The architecture of the hermitage clearly reflects the various extensions made over time.
At the entrance stands a four-sided cloister, with the friars’ cells on the upper floor and the convent community’s service rooms on the ground floor. The original cloister’s wooden-board flooring is still preserved.
The oldest part of the building, on the western side, dates from 1234. In 1352, the hermitage was transformed into a convent: the church was added and the cloister enlarged, with the brick arches that still give the space its open, airy character today.
The Church
The present building dates from 1402, but it was extensively remodelled in 1641 by Pompeo Bourbon del Monte, lord of the area. It is entered through the four-sided cloister, which leads directly to the apse.
The church has a rectangular plan and a vaulted ceiling. The vault over the apse probably predates the fifteenth-century reconstruction.
Inside, the fifteenth-century frescoes were severely damaged during the Baroque renovation. Those still visible include a Crucifixion with Saint Bernardino, probably by the Sienese school; a Madonna and Child; and a third fresco clearly inspired by Giotto. The sinopie depicting angels on either side of the portal are particularly interesting.
There are three altars, decorated with Baroque sculptures, statues and putti. On the high altar, commissioned by Pompeo del Monte, an elaborate wooden structure frames an altarpiece depicting the Crucifixion, flanked by the Virgin and saints. Its style is close to that of Raphael, who began his artistic career in Città di Castello.
Several relics are preserved in the apse, including two skulls displayed in a glass case, one male and one female. According to the chronicles, Blessed Stephen, a member of the Buon Riposo convent community, was deeply troubled by the fact that his mother had died in childbirth while giving birth to him. He therefore always wished to keep her skull with him for veneration, even in his tomb. This tradition appears to be supported by a fresco on the wall depicting Blessed Stephen holding a skull. No trace remains of the former wooden choir stalls in the apse.
About halfway along the nave is the entrance to a small chapel dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi, where, according to tradition, the saint would withdraw in meditation.
