Eremi e santuari — uncrowded destinations

A kilometre from Ugento, a crypt carved into the rock along an ancient pilgrims' route holds Salento frescoes from the 13th to the 17th century.

At 804 metres above Genoa, the basilica of the Guardia on Monte Figogna: a pilgrimage along ancient ridge paths, sea views and silence.

Above Bojano, at a thousand metres in the Matese, the Hermitage of Sant'Egidio and the transhumance drovers' roads tell of a slow, silent Molise.

On Monte Raione, near Salerno, a cave holds one of the best-preserved early medieval religious complexes, reachable only on foot.

A thousand metres up in the Sibillini Mountains, the sanctuary of Macereto is a wind-swept octagonal stone temple on a deserted plateau.

Suspended on a rocky spur in the Maiella, the hermitage linked to Pietro da Morrone remains one of the quietest and least-visited places in Abruzzo.

The hermitage of San Romedio, in the Val di Non: five little churches climb seventy metres up a rocky spur in Trentino.

A little-visited UNESCO heritage site, the Sacro Monte di Belmonte offers baroque chapels, woods and a sweeping view over the Piedmontese plain.