The picturesque town of Pietrelcina is a small village in the Apennine Mountains of Campania. Already a beautiful sight, the town now attracts throngs of faithful Catholics worshipping Saint Pio, one of the most famous saints of the 20th century. Also known as Padre Pio (Father Pio), he gained global celebrity for claiming to exhibit stigmata and supernatural abilities such as communicating with angels, receiving visions, and performing miracles. Many attractions in the town are dedicated to the mystic saint, who was born and raised in Pietrelcina before taking the Franciscan habit and becoming a friar. Padre Pio was born as Francesco Forgione in 1887 in a poor and deeply religious family of farmers, and soon decided that he would dedicate his whole life to God. The house where his family lived is now open to visitors, offering insight not only into the early life of the saint but also society in rural southern Italy at the turn of the 20th century.

**Piana Romana** is a peaceful rural area near **Pietrelcina**, Italy, famous for its connection to **Saint Padre Pio**. It is the place where he spent much of his youth working in the fields and where he is said to have received the first visible signs of the stigmata. Today, it is an important pilgrimage site, surrounded by beautiful countryside and a serene atmosphere

Originally built in 1540, the Capuchin Monastery is the site where the Saint lived from September, 1916 until his death in September 1968. It was here that Pio received the stigmata in 1918, and where all those supernatural events that led to his sainthood and canonization took place as well. Visiting this Monastery and viewing the chambers where St. Pio conducted his life means jumping into a context of spirituality and mysticism; it is a destination that the devout and tourists alike should make every effort to visit.

The Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in San Giovanni Rotondo is a famous religious site closely associated with Saint Padre Pio, who lived there for many years. Founded in the 16th century, it is home to the Capuchin friars and welcomes millions of pilgrims every year. It is a place of prayer, faith, and spiritual reflection.

After the death of Padre Pio, the Saint’s friars thought of constructing a new church, because too sensitive to the material and spiritual needs of the devotees, that the existing church could not contain. After the presentation of several projects, Friars entrusted the design of a new church to the architect Renzo Piano, so that it could accommodate 6,500 people. For its size it is the second largest church in Italy, after St. Peter's Church in Rome.