On horseback in the Mugello area to the Gamogna hermitage
Mugello, green and genuine land a few kilometres away from Florence, was born and proves itself more and more to be the ideal destination for a slow paced tourism. Thanks to the good accessibility of its hiking network, you can enjoy evocative horseback excursions visiting the most beautiful and fascinating places of the area, among beechwoods, enchanting chestnut groves, green pastures and breathtaking ridges.
An example is the excursion to the thousand-year old Eremo di Gamogna hermitage, in the Municipality of Marradi in the upper Mugello, leaving and returning to the "Casetta" holiday farm .
You start in the shade following the Rio Salto brook, then through oak forests you climb up and following the ridge with panoramic glimpses you get up high to the evocative Eremo di Gamogna, funded by San Pier Damiani around the year 1053 and dedicated to San Barnaba for the use of the monks from Camaldoli. Nowadays it is animated by the presence of the nuns of the Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem. Back on the saddle you go up a shaded path and then cross the centuries-old chestnut groves rich in biodiversity. One last stop, before you catch sight of the riding stables, to visit the "Dove non penso" (Where i don't think) location where you can relax on the chairs and trunks carved by the owner.
The route includes for the most part trail 521, other unmarked ones and a section of Dante's Way.
The hike is about 3,5 hours long, with a length of about 12 km.
Étapes
Gamogna Hermitage
Among the green mountains of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, isolated on a ridge, lies the Gamogna Hermitage, founded in 1053 by Saint Pier Damiani. The hermitage was dedicated to Saint Barnaba and inhabited by the Camaldoli monks of the underlying Badia della Valle.
After various events, the hermitage is back to being a place of spirituality and hospitality thanls to the presence of the nuns of the Fraternità Monastiche di Gerusalemme.
The church of the complex retains its original Romanesque structure, with the gabled facade, the semicircular apse with the exterior covered with slate slabs and the bell gable.
