About
The boyhood house of one of the most well-known saints of the 20th century is located in a little village tucked away in the southern Italian highlands.
The picturesque town of Pietrelcina is a small village in the Apennine Mountains of Campania that is already a beautiful sight, attracting throngs of faithful Catholics worshipping Saint Pio, one of the most famous saints of the 20th century. Padre Pio 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.
