From the Convent of Santa Rosa in Conca de Marini to the ruins of the Convent of Cospita, passing through San Lazzaro
Duration: 7,5 km
Travel time: 6h 30′
Path – Along the entire walk, the difference in height to be faced amounts to about 600 meters. Reducible starting from San Lazzaro. Section exposed in the gorge described in the text, avoidable with indicated modification of the route.
Approach -In Conca dei Marini coming from the junction between Amalfi and Praiano or descending from Agerola towards the coast coming from Naples / Castellammare. Logistics – You can park easily near the Convent. Right in correspondence with this there is also a bus stop that goes from Amalfi to Agerola (SITA square XII) to continue to Naples (and vice versa) passing through San Lazzaro.
Refreshment points – Bars and restaurants in Conca dei Marini and San Lazzaro.
The path consists of two parts. The first starts near the Santa Rosa convent in Conca dei Marini and reaches the viewpoint of the San Lazzaro di Agerola hamlet. The second, starting from the belvedere, continues to the ruins of the Cospita convent. For those who have limited time or are suffering from incurable laziness, it is possible to start from the San Lazzaro viewpoint, avoiding the first part of the route.
From the convent of Santa Rosa, take the stop which is easily identifiable near the bus stop. After an uphill stretch and another flat stretch, which can be covered in about twenty minutes, you will arrive at the confluence of a staircase that comes from the left.
A little further on, the path becomes barely distinguishable and a tenuous track winds upwards, between terraces in the direction of the houses above. Continue walking for another ten minutes until you reach a stone staircase, which leads up to a small road. On the opposite side of the road, take the steps to repeat another crossing. The new staircase, after about ten minutes, leads to a crossroads where you continue to the right, always uphill. A few steps and at the next crossroads, coming from the right, you meet the Via Maestra dei Villaggi. Needless to say, we go upwards, to the left. The last stretch overcomes a difference in height of one hundred meters and in about twenty minutes leads to the viewpoint of San Lazzaro (to admire the view, follow the road to the left for a hundred meters, slightly downhill).
The path resumes going back and, having passed the staircase from which you arrived, after a hundred meters you turn into the small road on the right, and follow it without deviating to its end, where there is a rest area, and follow the steps to the right of the houses above for a short distance, then take the path that branches off to the right. The path turns left but it is advisable to leave it for a few tens of meters to reach the rocks that separate from the overhang (not recommended for those suffering from vertigo) to be able to see a difficult to forget panorama, in the direction of Amalfi, Ravello and the towns of the Coast up to Capo D’orso; Beyond the cape you can see the Piana del Sele, the Alburni Mountains and the other side of the Gulf of Salerno, the mountains of Cilento up to Punta Licosa.
The Cospita Monastery (or Cospidi or Cospiti)
The first news of the place dates back to 1092 and concerns the existence of a church dedicated to the Holy Savior. Subsequently, in 1190, in the will of a noblewoman named Tarsia we read of a legacy to the “monasterio Cospidi solidum unum”. In 1266 both buildings are mentioned: “… ecclesia Sancti Salvatoris de monasterio Cospidi”. The chronicles tell that in the same place was the cave where Francesco della Rovere lived, who in 9 August 1471 became pope with the name of Sixtus IV. With a Royal Decree of 7 August 1809 the monastery was suppressed. The ruins, visible today, once housed «… a wooden high altar with three statues representing the Most Holy Mary with the Child, St. Francis and St. Anthony with the Child. Two other statues, in front of the altar, of Santa Rosa and San Bonaventura, four “old pictures” an organ with six registers, two bells; in a side chapel, stuccoed, a painting of the Immaculate Conception… .. ». During the cholera epidemic of 1837 the church was used for the burial of the victims of the plague and around 1860 it became a refuge for brigands. Resuming the path you proceed up to a small gorge to be descended with the help of holds (not always reliable) installed by some willing stranger. If any of the participants in the walk, suffering from vertigo or, because they are awkward in their movements, do not feel like continuing, they can reach the convent by following the path in the opposite direction starting from the previous detour. After the gorge you can see the ruins of the Cospita convent: a few remains of the perimeter walls with some arches and some internal divisions, unfortunately not much to get an idea of the original appearance of the building. The plateau with the meadow, between the convent and the mountain, is the ideal place for a break.
For the return there are two possibilities: the same route as the outward journey or a longer but less steep and less “exciting” route than the gorge. In this case it continues along the path that leads from the ruins towards the hinterland. After less than half an hour, take the path that comes from the left. Through a chestnut wood you return to the previous deviation towards the pylons.
