You probably know the Canticle of the Sun, the famous religious song written by Saint Francis of Assisi ("Be praised, my Lord, through all your creatures,especially through my lord Brother Sun,…), sometimes also just called "Brother Sun, Sister Moon".
In Tieschen, a small market town in Styria, Austria, artists created a hiking trail dedicated to this famous canticle.
Right next to the church you see the first station, a sundial, representing Brother Sun.
Then you walk up the hill…
to the lookout tower in the vineyards where you praise the Lord through Sister Moon and the Stars.
Of course you can also enjoy the view from the lookout tower.
After walking through woodland for some minutes you reach another great lookout point in the vineyards. The wind harp represents Brother Wind.
Then you walk through the wood again until you reach the "Elisabethquelle". This well represents Sister Water.
Afterwards you walk down to a fruit garden, where you see a fire bowl as symbol for Sister Fire.
Soon you reach the village "Pichla bei Radkersburg". Here you find a labyrinth representing Sister Mother Earth.
From Pichla you walk through the vineyards back to Tieschen again. In the vineyards you see this "Globe for Unity" and a Peace Dove. This stands for the sentence "Blessed are those who endure in peace".
Back in Tieschen you walk down to the church, passing the "Gate to Live" that represents Brother Bodily Death.
Finally you reach the big park in front of the church. At the big modern statue of Saint Francis of Assisi, this beautiful hiking trail ends.
The pure walking time is 1 hour and 15 minutes, but I recommend to take more time. Even if you are not Roman Catholic, the hiking trail and Saint Francis' beautiful Canticle of the Sun are a good possibility to think about life and about how we treat each other, how we treat the animals, mother nature etc.
GPS data can be downloaded here!