구성 최고의 워킹 & 하이킹 경로

Mandatory destination at least once a year!

The meadows and houses of Cottanello have been used for centuries by shepherds who moved from Sabina to Rieti. Due to their importance, they have been registered in the National Catalog of Rural Landscapes. The large grassy clearing in which the now abandoned village stands is still today a pasture for cows, horses, sheep and pigs reared in the wild. This is a place of silence and peace where local people often come to organize picnics or observe the stars at night.

It seems that San Cataldo has never actually passed through these places. Yet the legends about the saint are not lacking. It is said that the rock that leads from the hermitage to the valley floor is full of hollows and fissures, marks of the elbows and feet of the saint who went to the stream every day to wash himself. Legends aside, the hermitage is a wonderful example of the union between human architecture and nature. The interior of the chapel and its ancient Byzantine fresco can be visited only during FAI days.

This small abandoned village rises among the wide and green clearings. The houses are still clearly visible and passing by one cannot help but think of the life that flowed between these mountains.

Listed among the natural monuments of the Lazio region, the Hermitage of San Cataldo is a small sanctuary carved into the granite rock of the mountains. If the exterior appears very impressive, the interior with its large frescoes is no exception.

The views from the cross are wonderful. a few kilometers in almost 900 m of elevation gain..😏

You should definitely take the short detour to the Convento Santo Speco di San Francesco.

It is worth taking a break at the summit cross.