San Giovanni Rotondo is the name of a town and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in the

province of Foggia The Province of Foggia ( it, Provincia di Foggia ; Foggiano: ) is a province in the Apulia (Puglia) region of southern Italy. This province is also known as Daunia, after the Daunians, an Iapygian pre-Roman tribe living in Tavoliere plain, an ...

and region of

Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

, in southern Italy. San Giovanni Rotondo was the home of

Saint Pio of Pietrelcina Francesco Forgione, OFM Cap., better known as Padre Pio and as Saint Pius of Pietrelcina ( it, Pio da Pietrelcina; 25 May 188723 September 1968), was an Italian Franciscan Capuchin friar, priest, stigmatist, and mystic. He is venerated as a s ...

from 28 July 1916 until his death on 23 September 1968. The Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church was built in devotion to the saint and dedicated on 1 July 2004. The town is renowned for its hospital and medical-research centre

Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza (English: ''"Home for Relief of Suffering"'') is a private scientific research hospital in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy, founded by Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, and administered by Vatican City. Inaugurated on 5 May 19 ...

(Home for the Relief of the Suffering) founded by Saint Pio of Pietrelcina. The nearby Sanctuary of Saint Michael the Archangel is also the site of Catholic pilgrimages and was visited by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

in 1987.

International relations

San Giovanni Rotondo is twinned with: *

Pietrelcina Pietrelcina ( nap, Pretapucìna) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Benevento in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is the birthplace of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio). Geography Benevento, Paduli, Pago Veiano and Pesco San ...

in Italy, since 2005 *

Wadowice Wadowice (; ger, Frauenstadt – Wadowitz) is a town in southern Poland, southwest of Kraków with 19,200 inhabitants (2006), situated on the Skawa river, confluence of Vistula, in the eastern part of Silesian Foothills (Pogórze Śląskie). W ...

in Poland, since 2006 * Monte Sant'Angelo, since 2013

Notable people

* Ivano Ciano (born 1983), Italian footballer * Claudio Damiani, Italian poet *

Michele Pirro Michele Pio Pirro (born 5 July 1986) is a motorcycle road racer from Italy, He was 2007 and 2008 the ''Italian CIV National Champion in the Superstock class'' and a test rider for Ducati factory racing in MotoGP and rides occasionally as a wild ...

(born 1986), Italian MotoGP rider

References

External links

* {{Apulia-geo-stub