Francesco Suriano (1445 – after 1481) was an Italian friar of the Franciscan order, who wrote a guide for travel to the Holy Land.
At sometime in 1485, with the help from a nun, Sister Catherine Guarnieri da Osimo acting as a scribe in the Monastery of St Clares in Foligno, Francesco wrote his treatise, Il trattato di Terra Santa e dell'Oriente, published in 1900 by Girolamo Golubovich [it].
[1] Suriano’s treatise is tendentious, imbued with a great deal of religiosity, and justifications of the superiority of Catholicism to all other religions.
He claims that Muslims hold them in lower regard than Christians, and treat them like dogs, and dare not even touch them.
He speaks regarding the location of the cave used by Adam and Eve after being expelled from the Garden, the place where Abraham circumscribed Isaac, the church where the Virgen was buried, where Zacharias and Absalom are buried, the house of Caiphas and Anne, the tomb of the site of the last supper, and the houses and burial plots of many biblical figures as if they still stood and were clearly identified.
He also quotes an epistle sent to Prester John (Prete Ianne), by the guardian of Mount Syon, Paulo de Chanedo.
From there a trek of fifteen days, they entered Ethiopia and were sent from one prominent man to another, from the town of Maria to Fendun, then Reeldete, then Vaansol.
In the court they encountered a number of Italians, who had ventured there in search of jewels and riches, but now found themselves not permitted to leave by the king.