This year summer refuses
to arrive. It has been one of the
rainiest July’s I can remember. So the week in July that I usually dedicate to
walking in the Apennines has been a disaster.
Seeing that the weather in
the Apennines was impossible, I decided to head north into the area around
Monte Baldo at the border between Veneto and Trento. I wanted to visit two places that I had seen in passing whilst on the way to somewhere
else, but had never stopped to visit.
Leaving the Autostrada at Affi, I took a long winding
road up to the Sanctuary of the Maddona
della Corona a church that has been built halfway up a cliff face. The idea of a Sanctuary is that pilgrims to a sanctuary come to pay their
respects to the remains or relic of a saint or to celebrate some supernatural happening,
in this case a statue of the Virgin Mary which transferred itself miraculously from Rhodes in Greece to here in Veneto. The sanctuary
has its roots in ancient Greek religious practices.
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| Madonna della Corona, Ferrara di Monte Baldo, VR |
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| Madonna della Corona, Ferrara di Monte Baldo, VR |
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| Madonna della Corona, Ferrara di Monte Baldo, VR |
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| Madonna della Corona, Ferrara di Monte Baldo, VR |
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| Madonna della Corona, Ferrara di Monte Baldo, VR |
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| Madonna della Corona, Ferrara di Monte Baldo, VR |
These Sanctuaries are
often to be found in spectacular locations. Inside they are often rather spooky
often with the bones of long dead saints on show. It is a part of Italian
Catholic culture that I think I will never get to understand.
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| Madonna della Corona, Ferrara di Monte Baldo, VR |
After a long climb back up
from the Sanctuary I decided to take the long winding road that runs below the
crest of the Monte Baldo chain of
mountains. I was surprised at the beauty of this place. I stopped for lunch in
a refuge where I had a magnificent view whilst enjoying some good local Tentino
food.
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| Monte Telegrafo |
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| Rifugio Fosce, San Valentino, Bentonico TN |
Now it was time to descend
down to Rovereto where I wanted to visit Castel Beseno. This castle is one of
many that dominates the Adige valley. But this is one of the most spectacular.
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| Castel Beseno, Beseno, TN |
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| Castel Beseno, Beseno, TN |
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| Castel Beseno, Beseno, TN |
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| Castel Beseno, Beseno, TN |
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| Castel Beseno, Beseno, TN |
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| Castel Beseno, Beseno, TN |
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| Castel Beseno, Beseno, TN |
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As often with these old castles
,they are more interesting seen in their stetting than what one sees
inside. The view from the castle walls
however were incredible. To finish the
day I paid a visit to a local wine maker
where after letting me sample some very good wine I then bought very cheaply
considering the quality several bottles to remind me of my day out.
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| Castel Beseno, Beseno, TN |
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| Castel Beseno, Beseno, TN |
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I finally got round to
doing a walk that I had planned for some time. I wanted to visit two small
isolated villages below the almost vertical face of the Apennines between Passo
Cerreto and Passo Lagastrello on the Tuscan side.
A stiff climb from
Sassalbo took me up to the pastures
Campi di Camporaghena. Here I encountered a herd of horses each with his cow bell.
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| Prati di Camporaghena MS |
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| Prati di Camporaghena MS |
Taking the CAI 100
footpath that runs along the base of the mountains I arrived at Camporaghena, my first destination. Like
most villages in the high Apennines it has suffered from a a tragic
depopulation due to its isolation and the decline of agriculture in these parts.
The thing that makes a
visit worthwhile to this village is the quality and quantity of carved stone decorations
to the buildings. This and the other village I wanted to visit were famous for
their stone masons.
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| Camporaghena, Cormano, MS |
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| Camporaghena, Cormano, MS |
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| Camporaghena, Cormano, MS |
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| Camporaghena, Cormano, MS |
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| Camporaghena, Cormano, MS |
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| Camporaghena, Cormano, MS |
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| Camporaghena, Cormano, MS |
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| Camporaghena, Cormano, MS |
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| Camporaghena, Cormano, MS |
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| Camporaghena, Cormano, MS |
The village has a rather
sad monument to a priest who was executed by the Germans who wanted to massacre the inhabitants of the
village. The priest rang the church bell as a signal of danger allowing the inhabitants to flee the village. This part of the world suffered endlessly
during the second world war from the ferociousness of the German army.
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| AdCamporaghena, Cormano, MS |
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| Camporaghena, Cormano, MS |
It was now time to push
onto Torsana, a village even more isolated than Camporaghena. Here there remains just one inhabitant, the
other houses are unoccupied or are second homes for the summer. The single
inhabitant greeted me by asking me how many people I had met on my walk today.
I had to respond that he was the first person I had seen in 4 hours of walking.
On reaching Torsana after
taking a look around the village I then retraced my steps back to Sassalbo.
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| Torsana, Cormano, MS |
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| Torsana, Cormano, MS |
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| Torsana, Cormano, MS |
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| Torsana, Cormano, MS |
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| Torsana, Cormano, MS |
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| Torsana, Cormano, MS |
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| Torsana, Cormano, MS |
To return home in the car
I took a detour that would take me to Passo Pradarena from Fivvizano.
From this road one has
some superb views of the Alpi Apuana. Time was short, but I will do this road
again with more calm as there are many interesting things to see.
My only walk along the
Crinal this July was a disaster best forgotten. By 8 o clock the sun had almost
disappeared and I was presented with a horrible cloudy day.
My destination was Sella
di Buffanaro part of a savage part of the Apennines called “Groppi di
Camporaghena” via the 657A footpath from the Sarzana Refuge. It was one of those walks that can be
classified as “done for completeness”.
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| Sella di Monte Actuto |
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| Sella di Punta Buffonaro |
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| Sella di Punta Buffonaro |
However not all was lost.
I quickly did a stretch of the Crinal from Monte Acuto and this can be
classified as “to do on a nice day”.
To end the walk the rain
arrived as promised by the weather forecast.
