San Grasso Mountain Hiking

The Abruzzo area is known for its food and wine, but also for its mountains and coastline. It was time for us to get into the Majella Mountains, to San Grasso National Park. We were greeted by goats and their shepherd who was not in a hurry to get off the road. 

We stayed at an agriturismo pension in Roccamorice called Santo Spirito B&B named after the  Santo Spirito hermitage. This pension is owned by Giampiero Di Federico who is a famous European mountain climber, now a climbing teacher. The pension was located at the start of several well known hiking trails including the Santo Spirito trail in the National Park.  This is a religious trail used by pilgrims to visit the numerous hermitages built in the cliffsides of these mountains. 

view from our room

view from our room

Giampiero on the left holding rope, training climbers on the right. Note that the rope crosses the main road!

The hiking is rugged, as is the scenery. Stone huts called tholos are scattered along the hills. They were constructed with dry placement of the area stones to house the shepherds guarding their sheep. The Turk and I started with a 30 minute hike to the hermitage of St. Bartholomew with the hopes of continuing on to the larger hermitage of Eremo Santo Spirito.  We got to Bartholomew's built into a rock overhang that includes a chapel and apartment.  

After checking around Bart’s place we decided to continue the mountainous hike to Santo Spirito monestary which we thought was 3 ½ km away. Alas, it was more like 8 km away. We walked one way 3 ½ hours and then decided to head back while we knew we could make it back. The hike involved steep inclines, sometimes with tall steps. Typically the trail was identified only by the painted trail markers, not by any pathway along the side of a mountain. We walked from stream level up to peak level and back. 

When we finally made it to our B&B we crashed. Our bodies were not happy. A quick nap later, all was well and we headed for our apertivo and dinner – at Belvedere’s for a wonderful pizza of truffles, gorgonzola cheese, walnuts and a bit of mushrooms on a thin crust. I had spaghetti pasta with smoked cheese and chunks of lamb. The bottle of Chimay helped soothe the soreness and we had no trouble sleeping that night.

getting close to St. Bartholomew's hermitage

hermitage 'porch'

chapel inside the hermitage

hermitage

our trail marker

a tholos that collapsed

 The next day we headed to the hermitage of Santo Spirito where Celestine V lived from 1274 to 1276 before he was appointed Pope.  He didnt stay a Pope for long and quit the job only to be rounded up and jailed by a later Pope.  

This time to actually make it to the hermitage/monestary. We got there as they openned and were able to walk through the renovations and ruins. The original structure was small, but grew to house the monks. It was repaired a couple of times through the centuries, and is now going through a modern renovation. What we thought was interesting was the carved canals along the walls and floors to deal with the water that comes through the rock, and the ground. We climbed 3 floors worth of rooms. The top floor included a chapel to Mary Magdalene. The main church is on the ground floor and very simple.

main chapel of Santo Spirito hermitage

altar in main chapel

cave hallway at hermitage

wall carving

bell tower

carved saint

upstairs chapel of Mary Magdalene - fresco on wall

view outside to the mountains

Mary carved into rock above chapel door

walkway around hermitage

Next day we headed to San Valentino to get internet and gelato. Alas we had to pass through Roccamorice to get there and I noticed that the porchetta truck was in the square!  This is one of my ‘must taste’ foods!  We stopped, got a slab of porchetta and sat in ‘our spot’ in the square, ordered coffee,and had an early lunch as we watched the whole town mingle in the usual way – but they were dressed for Sunday.

 Hazelnut and chocolate gelato awaited in San Valentino, and they helped fuel us to the next location  - the terme (baths) at Carriga…   But we couldn’t find any baths! We drove around until the Turk was too frustrated to continue. Then we parked the car below town and walked up. In town we asked a restaurant owner and he pointed us up the hill. Here we are, hiking again!  Up the hill, then another up the hill until we got to a hotel/health spa facility. We thought we could pay $10 for a pass to swim the waters for an hour, but no. This was a place that people book way in advance to experience the ‘cure’ of the sulphur waters and the amenities that this facility provides. For a mere $75 you can have a day pass during the week.  Nope!  And down we hiked. Total hiking time just in S Valentino – 1 ½ hrs. The Turk had been promised an easy day – ooops!