Eremo di San Marco, Romanesque hermitage in Piagge, Italy.
The Eremo di San Marco is a Romanesque hermitage set into the rocky face of Colle San Marco, near Ascoli Piceno, where natural cave formations are joined with blocks of travertine stone. The rock itself forms part of the walls and ceiling, so the boundary between the natural hillside and the built structure is often hard to tell.
Cistercian monks founded the hermitage in the 13th century as a place of retreat away from the town below. In 1387, the Sgariglia family took control and converted the building into a church, changing the purpose of the space.
Inside the hermitage, old frescoes are still visible on the walls, left over from its years as a place of prayer. The Sgariglia family tombs, carved into the rock, show how closely religious and private life were once tied to this place.
The hermitage is reached by a marked trail through the forest, starting near a restaurant area at the foot of the hill and marked with red and white signs. The path is steep, so solid footwear and enough time for the climb are worth planning for.
Maidenhair ferns grow directly out of the walls of the hermitage, rooted in the gaps between the stone. The windows, cut into the rock face, open onto a wide view of the Tronto Valley and the rooftops of Ascoli Piceno far below, which comes as a surprise after the low ceilings inside.
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