TRK E3: Montefranco – Monte Moro – San Mamiliano
- Created: settembre 16, 2018
- Updated: novembre 2, 2018
- Distance 11 km
- Time 4 h 0 min
- Speed 4.0 km/h
- Min altitude 392 m
- Peak 695 m
- Climb 524 m
- Descent 522 m
- Distance Instructions
Archeotrek
This trail allows the tourist to visit the remains of an old Roman religious settlement together with the village of San Mamiliano, where a mysterious meeting of the Templar Knights took place.
The itinerary starts in Montefranco in front of Madonna del Carmine's Church; it goes up along a road in a hilly landscape among olive trees and farmed fields.
Looking towards the East, the splendid views over the Nera Valley can be admired, along with the mountains of the Middle and Lower Nera Valley.
The trail winds up to the bare peak of Mount Moro across the shadowy Aleppo pines and a scented Mediterranean maquis. On Mount Moro the remains of the old Roman settlement can be visited.
After 400 mt on the right, access a shadowy trail leading to the village of San Mamiliano.
At the end of the visit, an alternative trail crossing a chestnut tree forest that leads back to the initial trail can be chosen. The return trail is the same one used to start the itinerary.
1. Start
2. Madonna del Carmine's Church
This single-nave church presents a simple gabled-facade and an elegant 18th century bell tower.
The building stands near the cemetery, not far from the town of Montefranco. Inside frescoes and altars dating back the 18th c. as well as an Ascension from the 16th c. can be admired.
3. Mount Moro
The peak of Mount Moro is located on the northern edge of the territory of the Municipality of Montefranco and borders with the Municipality of Ferentillo. Here, starting in 1998, archeological digs that brought to light a pre-Roman sanctuary, two cisterns and other manufacts, were carried out.
According to some researches, the presence of cisterns for water and food storage is valid proof of the fact that the site has been constantly used both for civil and religious purposes between the 4th century b.C. and the 4th century a.C.
During the archeological digs, small votive bronzes were also found proving the religious function of the site from the early stages of its occupation. It is assumed that the site in the area of Mount Moro has been abandoned following a silos sabotage and a removal of materials. There is no further proof of new settlements.
4. San Mamiliano
This old hillside medieval town characterised by a strong fortification structure had a vital defensive role in the area, specifically during the Saracenic invasions in the 9th century.
San Mamiliano boasts the 14th century San Biagio's Church having in its inside an important masterpiece by Jacopo Siculo (1538) and a wooden statue representing St. John.
In the little square named after the painter, there is a well on which the emblem of Ferentillo was sculpted in 1005. The Village recently came into the limelight for the 'treasure' the Templar Knights hid in the village and in San Giovanni's Monastery.