25 Apr THE GREAT CROSSING BEVAGNA – BETTONA PART 1
FROM BEVAGNA TO MADONNA DELLA VALLE
The crossing of the Martani hills, in the section that hems the Umbrian Vale from Bevagna to Bettona, is an itinerary of rare beauty and variety, traversing a landscape of high hills, mountainous in places, practically depopulated. Despite its proximity to the best-known and most important towns on the eastern side – Foligno, Spello, Assisi – that will parade before us one after the other as we travel our journey on foot.
The first, shorter stage pivots on the Sanctuary of Madonna della Valle, which will soon also house a hiking refuge. The Sanctuary of Madonna della Valle, built in 1212, had been destroyed and rebuilt several times, most recently after the 1997 earthquake. But even in the long years of abandonment, the shrine, nestled in a beautiful forest of towering oaks and chestnut trees, continued to be a landmark for the community, as evidenced by the devotional structures spontaneously rebuilt outside the site.
La traversata tocca anche le rovine di Madonna del Monte, offrendoci anche un assaggio dei vasti panorami che caratterizzano la tappa successiva. The traverse also touches on the ruins of Madonna del Monte, also giving us a glimpse of the vast views that characterize the next stage. Abandoned in 1555 by the nuns for security reasons, the convent thus gave rise to the present Bevanate monastery significantly named “S. Maria del Monte.”
Altitude change: 640 m +, 280 –
Km: 10
Duration: 4 h
Difficulty: (E), easy/medium
Signage: absent
Water along the route: none
Recommended season: all year round.
Route type: the itinerary is on paved or gravel-bottomed secondary roads, earth-bottomed forest roads, trails.
Points of interest: Sanctuary of Madonna della Valle – Ruins of the monastery of Madonna del Monte
ROAD MAP
You leave your vehicle in Piazzale dell’Accoglienza, then, as you leave Bevagna, after the bridges, cross a small residential area in the hills on a narrow asphalt road used only by a few residents. Leaving the last houses, the asphalt turns into a good dirt road and descends to the valley floor. Here, after passing the ruins of an old mill, we turn left: a few meters later we climb the hill on a dirt road. For a short stretch of trail, we follow the Cammino degli Angeli and, if we want or need to avoid sleeping in a refuge, we can follow it back (towards Rome) to quickly reach Gualdo Cattaneo, have dinner and stay overnight.
We then climb up forest roads to the ruins of Madonna del Monte, then descend to the sanctuary.
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