Santa Caterina – Santa Maria dei Monti – Campidoglio
Duration: 6,9 km
Travel time: 3h 30′
Route – Immersion in nature for more than five kilometers. Route in the mountains with panoramic points and a wide variety of species of local vegetation. The typical background of mountain trails suggests the use of suitable footwear.
Approach and logistics – From Salerno or Sorrento, crossroads for Ravello near Atrani and deviation towards Scala. From Naples (A3 motorway) exit at Angri and continue towards the Valico di Chiunzi.
From Salerno or Sorrento SITA bus service to Amalfi and from here local connection to Scala. From Salerno also ferry to Amalfi.
Services and refreshments – Bars and restaurants in Scala.
The route leads over 1000 meters of altitude and allows you to appreciate the entire range of local vegetation: from the scrub along the coast, to the chestnut and mountain beech woods. It starts from the Piazza di Scala in the direction of Ravello and after Scala200 meters take the staircase on the left that leads to another carriage road. Turn right, then take the stairs back to the left. At the crossroads, turn left again and continue straight until you return to the road. Continue uphill for about 150 meters, up to the church of San Pietro in Campoleone . In ancient times the church was called San Pietro “in Castagna and preserves, inside, a statue of San Michele Arcangelo from 1538, a sepulchral slab of the rare family, a fourteenth-century bas-relief depicting Santa Caterina d’Alessandria; in the crypt it is possible to admire some frescoes of the XII – XIII century.
———- To the left of the church, take the staircase with which a path parallel to the main road begins. A hundred meters before the church of Santa Caterina d’Alessandria, the main road resumes. Inside the church there is a wooden statue of the saint and two paintings depicting the saints Lucia and Agnello. A few meters further on there is the small church dedicated to Santa Maria de la Porta which marks the ancient entrance to the city. Leaving the church on the right, you pass a double curve and, almost at the end, you will find a detour on the left side. From here begins the most “mountainous” part of the route, which coincides with road no. 53 of the CAI. After a hundred meters, now at an altitude of 500, a flight of steps begins which, for some sections, is replaced by a path. Following it, first through woods and, subsequently, on the uncovered side of the mountain, we arrive at a plateau around 1,000 meters above sea level where the ancient church of Santa Maria dei Monti stands, today transformed into a refuge.
With your back to the church, on the left, you take the path (CAl via n. 51 which leads to a depression in which a torrent flows and in a subsequent gorge, the Scalandrone torrent, which leads back in the direction of Scala. -I know that it gradually gives way to a more sparse vegetation Arriving at a crossroads it is necessary to continue straight ahead and not to turn right where the road leads to path 01 of the CAI.
The path continues slightly downhill until it curves, following the terrain, towards the sea.
Shortly afterwards, turn sharply left, almost in the opposite direction to the sea, and descend along the main route until you return to the road. After passing under a house, at the next crossroads you go down to the left, then again to the left, turning your back to the sea. In correspondence of a rather large building, through the stairs on the right side of the street, you return to Piazza Duomo.
