Assisi (PG) - The FAI - Italian Environmental Fund and the friars of the Sacred Convent of Assisi announce the creation of the first area for the hospitality of the dogs in the Forest of Saint Francis of Assisi along the way on the Way of St. Francis. The inauguration will take place on 4 May in collaboration with the Region of Umbria, Sviluppumbria, Consorzio Umbria & Francesco's Ways and the association Amico Peloso in a day of celebration that will welcome four-legged friends and their owners from 10.00.
At the entrance of the Forest, the square of St. Francis, will be placed kennels that will allow visitors and pilgrims who come to Assisi with dogs to continue the tour without them, entrusting them in custody in an area managed by the Forest FAI. This is the first trial in Italy that includes the needs of the pilgrims with the dog in tow on a visit to a place of worship, where they normally can not enter. The pilgrims with dogs who come to the Woods, showing the pilgrim's credential and depositing an identification card at the information office of the FAI, will leave their four-legged friends for 90 minutes in a comfortable nest in the shade of trees trees in the "forest" of St. Francis. If the spaces were not to be occupied by the dogs that accompanied the pilgrims on the Way of St. Francis, they may also be used by tourists with the dog in tow.
Program of the day:
9:45 am - Meeting of owners and dogs at the Visitor Center of the Church of the Holy Cross - Entrance bottom of Bosco di San Francesco.
10:00 - Start of the walk with the dogs in the Forest of Saint Francis.
10:40 - Arrival of dogs and companions at the entrance to the Upper Grove St. Francis.
11:00 - Opening of the Dog Parking and blessing of the animals in the presence of the civil and religious authorities:
- Father Mauro Gambetti, Keeper of the Sacred Convent of Assisi;
- Prof. Fabrizio Bracco, Councillor for Culture and Tourism Region of Umbria;
- Archbishop Paolo Giulietti, president of the Consorzio Umbria's Ways & Francis;
- Mr. Claudio Ricci, Mayor of Assisi;
11:30 - Back at the lower entrance of the Forest of Saint Francis.
12:00 - Presentation of the second edition of the guide The Way of Francis (ed. Sao Paulo).
12:30 - Buffet "menu of the pilgrim" and refreshments for dogs.
For more information about the Forest of St. Francis and Via Francesco:
www.viadifrancesco.it
www.sanfrancesco.org
www.visitfai.it/dimore/boscodisanfrancesco/
