Eremo di Sant'Antonio

At the southern edge of the beech wood above Pescocostanzo stands the hermitage of Sant'Antonio, a rural chapel with a small bell gable among old farmsteads.

Why it matters

The chapel is documented by 1536, and its origins are described as medieval. Its windows are of a type associated with the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and the wooden statue of the saint is dated to the late fourteenth century. Accounts record that local herders took responsibility for the chapel after the lay hermits left.

What to notice

The church is a single small hall. Two windows flank the entrance, and two smaller openings light the downhill side. A plain altar carries an image of Sant'Antonio da Padova; outside, a single bell hangs in the small bell gable, and the former hermits' rooms adjoin the chapel.

Context and history

The chapel stands within the Bosco di Sant'Antonio, a beech wood whose history is associated with pastoral use. Records place the hermitage there by 1536 and describe the later transfer of its care from lay hermits to local herders.