Roccamonfina
Roccamonfina (CE)
Hidden gemVillages
The story
Nestled in the crater of an extinct volcano, Roccamonfina smells of chestnut groves and guards the Ciampate del Diavolo, ancient human footprints pressed into the volcanic rock.
The story
Roccamonfina is a village lying at six hundred metres inside the crater of an ancient extinct volcano, on the slopes of Monte Santa Croce. The name derives from the ancient 'Monte Fino', as the relief is called in documents of the year 1000. The whole volcanic basin, covered with chestnut woods, keeps traces of Ausones and Aurunci settlements with walls in polygonal masonry.
What to see
The charm of Roccamonfina is its landscape: a village in the crater of a volcano, immersed in the chestnut woods of the Roccamonfina-Foce del Garigliano regional park. It is the starting point to explore the volcanic complex and Monte Santa Croce.
Hours and prices
Free entry.
Tips
You are in a volcanic regional park: an excellent base for walks in the chestnut woods and on Monte Santa Croce. In autumn it is chestnut time. Cool because of the altitude; the car is handy. To be combined with Vairano Patenora and the Upper Caserta area.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Roccamonfina special?
It stands at about 600 metres inside the crater of an ancient extinct volcano, in the Roccamonfina-Foce del Garigliano regional park.
What is produced at Roccamonfina?
The area, covered with chestnut woods, is tied to the production of chestnuts.
Where is Roccamonfina?
In the Upper Caserta area, on the slopes of Monte Santa Croce, in the crater of the volcanic complex of the same name.
More gems in Roccamonfina
◆ Sacred artSantuario della Madonna dei Lattani
Roccamonfina (CE)
Among ancient chestnut groves, on the flank of an extinct volcano, the Franciscan convent founded by Saint Bernardino of Siena gathers the silence at eight hundred and fifty metres above Campania.
◆ History & archaeologyOrto della Regina (mura megalitiche)
Roccamonfina (CE)
In the silence of a centuries-old chestnut wood appears a ring of cyclopean boulders 180 metres long, raised by the Aurunci or the Samnites: legend says princess Fina hid here, and the volcano still bears her name.
- ◆ Volcanoes
Vulcano di Roccamonfina
Roccamonfina (CE)
An extinct volcano clothed in chestnut groves, where the crater has become a plateau and every trail smells of dark earth and ancient woods.
- ◆ Sacred art
Eremo di Monte Atano
Roccamonfina (CE)
On a volcanic cone covered in chestnut trees stand the walls of a hermitage and a mute little chapel: a place of prayer that the wood is slowly taking back.
More gems: Villages
VillagesLa Pignasecca
Montesanto
The oldest market in Naples unspools through the alleys of Montesanto: fish stalls, fry shops and old-time botteghe (traditional shops) in a hubbub that never stops.
VillagesBorgo Marinari
S. Lucia
At the foot of Castel dell'Ovo, the little fishermen's borgo (old village) is now a marina of boats and restaurants: stone, salt air and the legend of Virgil's egg hidden in the foundations.
VillagesMarina Corricella
Procida
The oldest fishermen's borgo (old village) on Procida, an amphitheatre of pastel houses tumbling down to the harbour, where the boats sleep beneath the hanging laundry.
- ◆ Villages
Mercato di Porta Nolana
zona Garibaldi
Beneath the Aragonese arch of Porta Nolana the fish market erupts with voices, crates of seawater and shellfish still alive: Naples at its most unvarnished.
- ◆ Villages
Borgo di Casamale
Somma Vesuviana
The medieval heart enclosed by Aragonese walls and towers, a tangle of alleys where every four years the Festa delle Lucerne lights thousands of little lamps.
- Villages
Marina Grande di Sorrento
Sorrento
Below the town's cliffs, the old fishermen's borgo (old village) with houses faded by the salt, boats hauled ashore and trattorias fragrant with frying.