Monks, Mosquitoes, and the Heavenly Ladder: A Retreat into Camaldoli
The narrow, steep mountain road wound turn after turn through dense forests, climbing up to the Sacro Eremo di Camaldoli. I needed this escape. After all the hustle and bustle of the cities, the constant drone of voices, and the crowds of tourists, my brain was craving the absolute silence of a hermitage. But upon arrival, disappointment struck: the courtyard was buzzing with day-trippers. So I laced up my hiking boots and fled straight into the solitude of the mountains.
The forest greeted me with cool, damp autumn air. A carpet of wet leaves muffled every step, while a swarm of ravenous mosquitoes pursued me relentlessly. Yet, the atmosphere captivated me instantly: the towering firs and ancient beech trees, with their moss-covered, twisted trunks, looked strangely ghostly—as if guarding ancient secrets. I couldn’t get enough of the bizarre silhouettes standing like phantoms in the damp mist.
Eventually, I found a mossy stone off the beaten path. I sat down to catch my breath and pulled out my notebook to read the story of this mystical place.
In the year 1012, Saint Romuald retreated into these wild woods. Legend has it that a local count named Maldolo had a vision: he saw monks clad in snow-white robes ascending a dazzling ladder straight into heaven—on the very clearing of his estate. Moved by this vision, Count Maldolo gifted the mountain to the hermit (Ca’ Maldoli—the House of Maldolo). Romuald went on to build five tiny, strictly separated cells where the monks lived in absolute silence.
I looked up. The rustling of the branches above suddenly sounded like the whispers of those ancient hermits, and the foggy forest seemed to swallow the centuries in the blink of an eye.
