The health status of Pope Francis and now his death has promoted the demand for tourist experiences linked to the figure, Life and work of the Supreme Pontiff.
Trips to destinations such as Buenos Aires (Argentina), the Vatican (Rome) and Assisi (Italy), and the guided tours, activities and excursions that allow to know places and live experiences linked to the figure of the Supreme Pontiff.
For some months “there has been a significant increase in tours reserves related to Pope Francis in different parts of the world,” they told EFE from the online platform of guided tours, excursions and activities in Spanish, Civitatis.
“The rise of religious tourism related to Pope Francis demonstrates that the legacy of this Pontiff remains in force and continues to inspire people from all over the world,” says Nicolás Posse, national director of Civitatis in Argentina, and head of business development of this platform for Chile and Uruguay.
“Thematic trips are a rising trend, and the experiences centered on the figure of the Holy Father combine history, spirituality and social commitment, generating a significant impact on those who perform them,” adds Posse.
It emphasizes that in recent months, the demand for Pope Francis Tour by Buenos Aires offered by its platform “increased more than 30%”, and that “there was also a remarkable increase in reservations in all experiences related to the Vatican’s papal headquarters and its environment.”
“This shows that the influence of Pope Francis transcends the religious sphere and has become a travel reason for both believers and for those who value their career and teachings,” adds Posse, which then details some of the most prominent routes linked to the Supreme Pontiff, which travelers are requesting.
Pope Francis Tour for Buenos Aires (Argentina)
Pope Francis’s tour allows to know what the life of Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires was, the city where his childhood was born and developed, before becoming, by some nickname, ‘Pope brought from the end of the world’, according to Posse.
He explains that it is “a tour that reflects the origins and different experiences of Francisco’s early life and his career within the Church, accompanied by an expert guide in the life and work of the first American Pope.”
The circuit, which begins in the neighborhood of Flores, in the Argentine capital, where Francisco was born and spent his first years with his parents and four brothers within a Catholic family, includes the visit to the buildings where he took the first sacraments that aroused his religious vocation.
The sites that Bergoglio frequented in his youth are also visited; as the San Lorenzo de Almagro Athletic Club, where its passion for football originated; and the Church of San Francisco de Asís, Italian Holy of the thirteenth century, founder of the Franciscan order, in which Pope Francis was inspired to choose his papal name, reports Posse.
In addition, the itinerary includes visits to the San José de Flores Basilica where the current Pope decided to consecrate his life to God at age 17, and the Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires, where thousands of Argentines gathered to wait for the results of the conclave in which he was chosen successor of Pope Benedict XVI, according to Civitatis.
Vatican (Rome)
Another of the most demanded religious tours of the moment focuses on the Vatican, headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church and home of Pope Francis since 2013, in a tour that includes a guided tour of the Basilica of San Pedro, the Vatican museums and the Sistine Chapel, as well as the description of little -known episodes of the Vatican city.
These guided tours offer preferential access to museums that house the largest art collection of the Catholic Church, including sculptures, paintings and other works from different eras, as well as to the Plaza de San Pedro.
One of the outstanding stages of the Tour is the Sistine Chapel, where you can see the frescoes of Miguel Ángel, one of the most complex and fascinating pictorial works of art history, and you can know various aspects of this famous stay where the conclaves are celebrated to choose each new Pope.
The guide offers its explanations before or after the visit, to respect the rules of silence and decorum of the Vatican.
Other emblematic sites included in this tour are maps, candlestick and rug galleries; The patio of the pineapple and the rooms of Rafael and Borgia apartments, as well as the Pío Clementino Museum, being able to cross during 2025, the Holy Gate, due to the celebration of the jubilee.
One of the experiences that travelers most demand, especially the faithful Catholics, is to attend the public audience with Pope Francis on Wednesday, meetings where they can see and listen to the Pope in the Plaza de San Pedro, participating in a special spiritual moment, according to Civitatis.
These public hearings, suspended due to the care and medical care required by the Pope, could be resumed based on the recovery and health status of the Pontiff.
San Francisco de Asís (Umbría, Italy)
One of the main spiritual references of Pope Francis is San Francisco de Asís, the saint of poverty and humility and one of maximum figures of Christianity, in whom Francisco was inspired to choose his pontifical name.
Therefore, one of the places that, according to Civitatis, records a growing influx of religious tourism visitors, is the medieval city of Assisi, in Italy, where the Christian saint was born and died, whose remains rest in the basilica of San Francisco de Asís: Place of pilgrimage for faithful arriving from all over the world.
The Basilica of San Francisco de Asís, declared a World Heritage, includes numerous chapels and the crypt in which the sarcophagus containing the mortal remains of the Italian saint is located, and is made up of two structures: the upper, bright and spacious church, and the lower church, darker and with less space, according to Civitatis.
In Assisi, travelers also usually visit the Chiesa Nuova church, a place of worship erected in the place where the old family home of San Francisco de Asís was, in which this religious grew up with their parents and brother, and where the three portals that gave access to the old house and the ground floor where San Francisco worked.
Many travelers also travel the so -called ‘Franciscan path’, a tour of landscapes and monasteries related to Franciscan spirituality, Civitatis concludes.