Camaldoli, Italy: travel guide to the holy hermitage and monastery in the Casentino forests of Tuscany

Camaldoli is a small monastic settlement in the municipality of Poppi, in the province of Arezzo, in the heart of the Casentino region of eastern Tuscany. Set deep in the ancient fir woods of the Casentino Forests National Park, it is one of the most important and atmospheric spiritual sites in Tuscany, the mother house of the Camaldolese Benedictine order.

For travellers searching for Camaldoli, the Hermitage of Camaldoli, the Camaldolese monks or the Casentino Forests, this is a place of remarkable peace, where centuries of monastic life and a great protected forest meet.

History

Camaldoli was founded around 1012 by Saint Romuald of Ravenna, who chose a forest clearing known as Campus Maldoli to establish a community of hermits. The order he created, the Camaldolese Benedictines, was confirmed by Pope Paschal II in 1113, and although it spread to many places in Italy, Camaldoli always remained its principal house. For a thousand years its monks have combined prayer and work with the careful cultivation and protection of the surrounding forest.

The Hermitage and the Monastery

The complex has two parts that express the twin dimensions of monastic life, solitude and community. The Sacred Hermitage, set at around 1,100 metres amid the silver firs, is made up of rows of small cells, each with its own enclosed garden, where hermits live in contemplation. About three kilometres lower, at around 800 metres, stands the Monastery, with its guesthouse and the church of Santi Donato e Ilariano, whose late-Baroque interior holds fine painted panels by Giorgio Vasari. The monastery also preserves its historic pharmacy, where monks have long prepared herbal remedies from the forest.

Practical information

Camaldoli lies within the Casentino Forests, Monte Falterona and Campigna National Park, reached by a scenic drive through the woods near Poppi and Bibbiena. Guided visits take in the church and historic parts of the monastery, while the surrounding park offers superb walking among some of the best-preserved forests in the Apennines.