San Liberatore Valley , Hermitage of San Liberatore , Fresco Hermitage of San Liberatore

The itinerary starts from the charming village of Alessia, from which you can reach in a few minutes the picturesque pass that opens gently onto the slopes of Monte San Liberatore. Here, between the blue Tyrrhenian Sea and the green Metellina valley, the panorama offers an enchanting spectacle.

Dating back to 1062, a document mentions the Valley as a place loved by Prince Gisulfo II, who was passionate about pigeon hunting. Traces of the church of San Vito have disappeared, but an intact tower in the woods recalls the ancient "pulieri" and "mettetore" used to hunt passenger pigeons.

Continuing, we discover the story of a thousand-year-old holm oak called "Manfredi's holm oak" and of an abandoned hunting lodge. The mountain, with its 466 meters of altitude, offers a breathtaking panoramic view of the city and the sea. Mediterranean vegetation covers the slopes of Cava and Salerno, while the initial wall of the path hosts a climbing gym of the CAI. from 1984.

Once you arrive at the hermitage, whose origins date back to the 10th century, you can admire the top of the mountain with an iron cross built in the 1950s. From here you can glimpse the remains of a watchtower and enjoy a circular panorama "of a superb, unreal, unique majesty". Despite the deterioration suffered over time, the hermitage church was restored by the people of Cava in the 20th century, with a painting of "Christ the King" created in 1956.

In the hermitage of Monte San Liberatore, entering from the current reception room and climbing a dark internal staircase, you arrive at a rocky environment where, in the total nakedness of the walls, a fragment of a fresco stands out.