Castel Menardo & Eremo San Onofrio
- Apr 17
- 2 min read
Walks in the Maiella Part 6
Starting from the small Maiella town of Serramonacesca you can take a manageable bite out of the multi-stage Spiritual Trail and in 3 hours see Castel Menardo, Eremo San Onofrio and also the Abbey San Liberatore a Maiella.
I'm always looking for a reasonably challenging walk of a few hours in an area of natural beauty but, as I'm much better at cycling long distances than hard core hiking, in the Maiella I try to find short convenient sections of multi-day trails and largely avoid the ones rated EE for difficulty.
But don't confuse difficulty for exertion because if you park your car in Serramonacesca and walk up to Castel Menardo, taking the road and then the very short D4 path, and then continue up to Eremo San Onofrio you'll climb a total of about 1,800 feet in something like 2 miles. On the way back if you use the S trail to cut across to the Abbey before returning to Serramonacesca there's very little further uphill involved.
On a glorious sunny weekday morning in early September I had the trail mostly to myself and saw only one other couple who paused at the Eremo on their way further into the Maiella on the Spiritual Trail while I turned around.
Given how convenient the trails here are to the town below, they are obviously well-used at weekends and well signposted and there are tables and benches in the woods half way along the short path for people to stop for lunch.
The castle itself is no more than a ruin today but it has a commanding view of Serramonacesca and the countryside to the east. Supposedly built on the orders of Charlemagne to protect the southern border of his empire there is no real evidence to support its construction at that time and it's more likely to date back to the 12th or 13th century.
The Eremo San Onofrio is a similar age to Castel Menardo and was built by Benedictine monks from the Abbey as a place of spiritual retreat. It's located at 2,400 feet of elevation so the path can be quite steep on the way up.
At dawn on June 12th of every year the local people walk up to the hermitage as part of their respect for ancient traditions and attend mass and bathe in the nearby spring. This is typically followed by a celebration in town, the highlight of which is the serving of cauldrons of fresh cheese.
