S. Spirito a Majella

History

Clinging to a rock face at 1,130 metres in the Santo Spirito gorge, the hermitage is documented from the eleventh century, but its fame is tied to Pietro da Morrone, the future Pope Celestine V, who retired here in the thirteenth century and made it the cradle of the Celestine congregation. The complex, dug into and built against the cliff, comprises the church, cells, the "holy stair" and the rock balcony of Prince Caracciolo. It is one of the most intense places of Abruzzo's eremitic spirituality, today in the heart of the Maiella National Park.

Visiting

What to see

Rock hermitage on the slopes of Majella. Churches carved into rock. Monastic cells in caves. Connected to Pietro da Morrone (Pope Celestine V). Mystical and wild landscape.

Surroundings

Majella National Park. Beech forests. Mountain villages (Pescocostanzo, Scanno). Arrosticini skewers, cheeses, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo wine.

Visitor information

Season May-October: open every day except Monday, roughly 10am-5pm, guided tours in rounds.

Contacts

+39 085 8572132 · www.santospiritomaiella.com

Hospitality and where to sleep

No guesthouse

No guesthouse. B&Bs and farm stays in Roccamorice. Mountain refuges on Majella.

Beds and prices

No guesthouse at the hermitage. You sleep down in the valley: B&Bs, holiday homes and farm stays in Roccamorice, Abbateggio and San Valentino, budget-to-mid range; a few refuges and Park facilities in the surroundings. Book ahead on summer weekends.

Services

No permanent services up top: water and supplies must be loaded in Roccamorice, which has bars and food shops; a seasonal refreshment point is signposted along the hermits' road. No sockets, no wifi: it is a deliberately essential place. The guided-tour ticket is paid on site.

Places to stay nearby (within 15 km)

• Agricampeggio Colle dei Lupicampsite
  Sant'Eufemia a Maiella (PE), Contrada San Giacomo — 900 m · 8.6 km as the crow flies

  Price:

  Tent pitch with sink and 230V hook-up; farm-campsite rates

  Open:

  Summer season (approx. June–September), tel. 333 9655454

  Facilities:

  40 shaded pitches with sink and drinking water, swimming pool, playground, Majella trails from the gate

  Source:

  https://colledeilupi.it/ · https://www.parks.it/parco.nazionale.majella/operatore.php?progressivooperatore=391

  In the heart of the Majella National Park, on the L'Aquila–S. Spirito route: a perfect base for the Celestinian hermitages (S. Spirito a Majella and S. Bartolomeo). At the nearby Passo San Leonardo (1,282 m) there is also the Celidonio hotel-refuge.

Getting there by bike

A serious climb from Roccamorice: a narrow asphalted mountain road with demanding gradients winds up the gorge to the (paid) car park near the hermitage; the last stretch is on foot. From Pescara you reach Roccamorice via the SS487. Bring low gears and check the weather: you are above 1,100 metres. In season (roughly May-October) the hermitage is open every day except Monday, roughly 10am-5pm, with guided tours in several rounds (full about 7 €, reduced 3-5 €).

The road from Roccamorice narrows and climbs firmly into the ravine, above a thousand metres. Better to fit light gears and load water in the village, up there is nothing. The hermitage stays open only from May to October, the rest of the year the climb is an end in itself.

Last stretch on foot from the pay car park near the hermitage. No permanent service at altitude; load water and supplies in Roccamorice.

Map and stages