Historical Maratea sits high up in the hills, on a narrow shoulder of a bowl with 3,000’ mountains rising steeply up on three sides. The town itself is worth a discussion, but not now - you’ll just need to wait a bit longer. First, let’s take a hike to start off our layover day. We’ll pick the obvious destination - the huge statue of Christ the Redeemer of Maratea that crowns Mount San Biagio. It’s due to be another scorcher today, so let’s get an early start while we can still pick up some shade on the trail.
Walking is one option. You can also drive up, although we left our Jetta home with Bruce & Andrea so that’s a no go for us today. Or, we could bike - the option Jack strongly recommends, almost insists on. It’s doesn’t look like a bad climb at all - a thousand feet over three miles at a reasonably steady grade. Maybe next time; but unfortunately our bikes are sitting this morning at the top of the narrow stairwell in our B&B, and it doesn’t make sense to us to carry them back down and up again for such a puny ride. So, a hike it is.
We stare at the map a bit and come up with this nice little loop that looks like the road less traveled:
It’s a fine walk, and just the sort of profile that works best with my cranky old knees - steeper on the ascent, and much more gradual on the way down. It’s very quiet all the way up, on a trail that looks like it hasn’t been maintained in years. We enjoy cool, shady conditions and don’t see another soul beyond the ever-present wall lizards until we reach the summit.
The hike begins in the usual way, with a long set of stairs as we leave town. Oh, and here’s another sneak preview of Maratea, as long as we’re passing through.
Not far from town, we pass the small chapel of Santa Maria delle Grazie. Locate on an old hermitage route, its origins date back to at least 600 AD and probably much earlier.
Abruptly, we’re up and join with the primary route. Ou path ends right where I’m standing, and we have to scramble over the wall to reach the walkway. We’re back in civilization again.
Here’s the famous Christ the Redeemer of Maratea, and a less well known cycling vagabond. He’s hoping that a blessing is being bestowed on his favorite hat, so his partner will quit disrespecting it.
Another look at the statue of Christ the Redeemer of Maratea, with people added to provide perspective. Built in 1965 of Carrara marble after being inspired by the one atop Corcovado in Brazil, it stands 70 feet tall and is the fifth tallest such statue in the world.
The statue is reason enough for the walk up here, but we’re 2,000 feet up, it’s a clear day, and the views are stupendous in every direction. We gawk until we’ve had our fill but before long decide we’ve been in the sun too long and start walking down. The descent follows another little used path, although it is much better maintained than our uphill route and actually has trail markers. Again, we don’t see anyone until just as we enter town when another couple overtakes us. The walk down is on the seaward face of the mountain and in the full sun until we enter the woods near town, so we’re happy to quit when we reach the end. We quickly find a cafe for a light lunch and then retreat to our room for a few hours to let ourselves and the day cool down a bit.
Late in the afternoon we step out again, each going our own way this time. Rachael takes in a second hike, this time walking down to the beach and climbing back up again; while I grab the camera and poke around town at a relaxed place, looking for whatever I can find.
this chapel high on the flank of Monte Crivo stands in a dramatic position.
Looking across the sea from the summit of Monte San Biagio. The marina below is the Port of Maratea, a thousand feet below the town. The high peak across the Gulf of Policastro is Monte Bulgheria, which we skirted yesterday.
