In the frame of the three-day Spoleto Running Festival, the group FAI Spoleto has organized two hiking excursions on Sat 11 June and on Sun 12 June, to discover two of the most charming routes deep in the nature around Spoleto: the Giro dei Condotti and Monteluco’s Sacred Wood. The participation fee will support the cause of FAI – Fondo Ambiente Italiano, the Italian trust that defends, protects and restores important evidences of the Italian artistic and environmental heritage, thus making them accessible to the public.
Saturday’s route on the Giro dei Condotti, that will be enhanced by explanations on the city’s highlights and on the species living in the nature, will start at 11.00 from Piazza Campello, to end by the Complex of San Nicolò; its main feature is the Giro dei Condotti, the traditional, charming walk that faces Colle Sant’Elia and the Rocca Albornoziana; overall, 5 km will be covered. Once at the end of the Giro dei Condotti, you are close to the Basilica of San Salvatore, included in the UNESCO WHL, and will rise again in the direction of the XIVth-century-old Complex of San Nicolò, where the “Palazzo Maratona” has been established for the occasion. An aperitive will be offered at the Chiostro di san Nicolò by the organization of the Spoleto Running Festival.
Sunday’s route is a guided hiking across Monteluco’s Sacred Wood; it will start at 10.00 from the Campsite behind the Church of San Pietro, rising up to the Church of San Giuliano di Spoleto; the overall length is 4 km ca. At San Giuliano, a pic nic on the lawn before the Church will be offered by the organization of the Spoleto Running Festival. A place by the great charm, the church shows Romanesque features and many spolia, testifying to its old age. The Church used to be a reference point for all those who joined the hermitical community on Monteluco during the first centuries of Christianity, leading a secluded life in isolated mountain caves or cells. A prominent figure in this hermitical community was certainly that of St. Isaac, who arrived here from Syria in 528 AD and founded a monastery in San Giuliano. The fame gained by this hermitical settlement would cross the ages, and in 1556 Michaelangelo eulogized it from the heart in a letter of his. The inside of the Church shows a wealth of frescoes. Closed after restoration in the 1970s, the Church awaits its ultimate recovery and opening.
Sunday’s route is a guided hiking across Monteluco’s Sacred Wood; it will start at 10.00 from the Campsite behind the Church of San Pietro, rising up to the Church of San Giuliano di Spoleto; the overall length is 4 km ca. At San Giuliano, a pic nic on the lawn before the Church will be offered by the organization of the Spoleto Running Festival. A place by the great charm, the church shows Romanesque features and many spolia, testifying to its old age. The Church used to be a reference point for all those who joined the hermitical community on Monteluco during the first centuries of Christianity, leading a secluded life in isolated mountain caves or cells. A prominent figure in this hermitical community was certainly that of St. Isaac, who arrived here from Syria in 528 AD and founded a monastery in San Giuliano. The fame gained by this hermitical settlement would cross the ages, and in 1556 Michaelangelo eulogized it from the heart in a letter of his. The inside of the Church shows a wealth of frescoes. Closed after restoration in the 1970s, the Church awaits its ultimate recovery and opening.
To reach the meeting point for this second excursion, please reach the Spoleto SUD Junction, cross the road and head out to Monteluco; after 200 m about you take the 2nd road to the right; 300 m about and you’re under the campsite, where the route starts.
Participation fee:5,00 € per person, per hike, that will be totally devolved to FAI – Fondo Ambiente Italiano
