The Way of San Nilo in the Byzantine Cilento
A monastic route on the trail of Italo-Greek eremitism in the Cilento, from Sapri to Palinuro, amid caves, stone villages and the sea. Far from the crowded beaches, you walk from the mountains to the coast through a silent Cilento that almost no tourist knows.
Foto: Foto (Public domain) — Wikimedia Commons
When you say Cilento, almost everyone thinks of the sea: the beaches of Palinuro, Marina di Camerota, Acciaroli packed in summer. And yet you only need to turn your back on the coast and climb inland to enter another world, made of wooded hills, stone villages and a very ancient spirituality. Here, around the year 1000, Italo-Greek monasticism flourished, that of the Basilian monks of Greek language and rite who lived in caves and hermitages. The most famous figure is San Nilo da Rossano, a monk of Calabrian origin who, according to tradition, received the monastic tonsure precisely in these lands, in the monastery of San Nazario, and it is on the trail of this eremitic civilisation that a walk unfolds, crossing the most secret Cilento, from the mountains to the sea.
The walk
The Way of San Nilo is an itinerary of a little over one hundred kilometres, divided into eight stages, that starts from Sapri, on the Gulf of Policastro, and ends at Palinuro, on the Cilento coast. The spiritual heart of the itinerary is San Nazario, today a small hamlet of San Mauro la Bruca, where according to tradition the young Nicola gave up everything to receive the tonsure and take the name Nilo: more than a simple stage, it is the turning point of the entire walk. Along the route you come upon villages that preserve, in their names, their churches and their caves, the memory of the eastern saints and monks, one of the most vivid testimonies of Italo-Greek monasticism in the Cilento.
The inland villages
The walk crosses the interior, linking towns such as Torraca, Casaletto Spartano with its Cascata dei Capelli di Venere, Morigerati with the WWF Oasis of the Bussento Caves and Caselle in Pittari, where water and rock have carved gorges and cavities that were once the refuge of hermits. It continues towards Rofrano and Montano Antilia, amid chestnut woods and scattered hamlets, where the hermit caves carved into the stone recall the centuries when these places welcomed monks and ascetics. The final stages descend at last towards the coast, from San Nazario to Palinuro, ideally closing the journey from the mountains to the sea and offering, after days of walking through the interior, the sudden opening onto the blue of the Tyrrhenian.
The route develops within the National Park of Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni, amid hill and mid-mountain trails that require good legs but offer very broad panoramas, from the distant sea to the Apennine peaks. You walk among olive groves, woods and ancient mule tracks, with elevation gains that make themselves felt especially in the inland stages, before the long descent that leads towards the coast.
To get there, the starting point of Sapri is easily reached by train on the Tyrrhenian line, while the arrival at Palinuro is served by the Pisciotta-Palinuro station: from there you then need local buses or a car to venture among the villages. Public connections in the interior are sparse, so planning the timetables is essential. The car remains the most convenient way to reach the starting points of the stages, while the walk itself is done on foot. The hospitality is the simple, warm kind of the Cilento towns, made of farm stays, religious houses and small family guesthouses.
When to go
The ideal months are May, June and October. In spring the interior bursts with green and blossoms, with temperatures perfect for walking, while October brings the chestnut season, the colours of autumn and clear air. Summer, when the coast is besieged, is precisely the moment when the interior stays empty, but the heat during the central hours can make the climbs tiring. The secret of this walk is simple: while a few kilometres away the beaches are packed, here you cross villages where tourism never really arrived, and you meet more shepherds than wayfarers.
Practical tips
A practical tip: devote time to entering the churches and hermitages along the route, but find out the opening hours beforehand, because many religious sites in the interior are looked after by volunteers and open only on request or at certain hours. Taste the land cuisine of the Cilento, from Controne beans to hand-made fusilli, far from the tourist menus of the coast: it's the best way to enter the slow rhythm of this hidden Cilento and to support those who still live there.
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Practical info
When is the best time to visit The Way of San Nilo in the Byzantine Cilento?
The recommended time is May, June and October, when it is less crowded.
Where is The Way of San Nilo in the Byzantine Cilento?
The Way of San Nilo in the Byzantine Cilento is located in Lower Cilento, Campania (from Sapri to Palinuro).
