4 - Campigna - Camaldoli
La Calla and Sacro Eremo
- Trail Conditions: On foot
- Interest: Religion
- Departure: Burraia (Campigna)
- Arrival: Camaldoli
- Duration: 5 to 6 hours
- Length: 13.1 km
- Accomodation structures: Foresteria del Monastero di Camaldoli, Albergo Ristorante Camaldoli, Locanda dei Baroni - Antica Dimora
From Campigna one needs to go back up to Calla Pass following the trail that cuts through the bends on the road. From the pass, one gets on the comfortable forest track that runs near the ridge between the strict nature reserves of Sassofratino and Pietra, in an enchanted forest scenario. The forest is a compact and continuous expanse, from which one emerges only on the grassy and very scenic island on the summit of Poggio Scali (1520 m). After Porcareccio Pass one crosses some marshy glades before meeting the larger opening of Prato Bertone. There, one leaves the crest to descend through the very tall firs that accompany the hike to the perimeter wall of the Holy Hermitage, for ten centuries an extraordinary meditation and prayer oasis in the wild vastness of the forest. From the Hermitage one goes downhill towards Camaldoli, along the trail that cuts through the many bends of the road. After a small lake that was once used as a fishpond by the monks, one comes across the three wooden crosses that in the past used to mark the border of cloistered hermitage. Going down the side of the Fosso of Camaldoli, in the humid woods one finds a couple of stone chapels and soon after arrives at the Camaldoli monastery, the mother house of the Order founded by St. Romuald in 1024. The vast stone buildings stretch around the core that houses the guest house, the library and the old pharmacy. A beautiful fountain with the Camaldolese symbol (two joint doves) guards the entrance.
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