New route from Villa Verucchio to Ponte Santa Maria Maddalena - Detour, see this page
Leaving behind the more anthropized part of the route, this stage leads to San Leo, the place that inspired the Way and one of the most visited villages in the Montefeltro area.
From the Monastery of Santa Croce, we reach the beautiful historic town of Verucchio, which stands on a rocky promontory overlooking the Marecchia Valley and is dominated by the Malatesta fortress. A secondary road leads downhill to the Marecchia River and follows it for several kilometres along a dirt track. In summer, having reached the cliff of Madonna di Saiano, it is worth taking advantage of the small mobile bridge to ford the river, and making a short diversion to climb to the small hermitage before returning.
From Ponte Santa Maria Maddalena, we leave the valley floor again and climb along country lanes, surrounded by the landscape of the middle and upper valley. We reach the ancient Monastery of Sant’Igne, built on the site where Francis and Brother Leo bivouacked the night before entering San Leo, and thus an obligatory stop for pilgrims.
Another couple of kilometres and we reach San Leo, with spectacular views of the cliff and the mighty fortress.
New route from Villa Verucchio to Ponte Santa Maria Maddalena
In the first half of the stage, the new route reduces the asphalt sections overall and proceeds in a more natural environment, with very panoramic views along the winter variant.
After passing the cemetery of Villa Verucchio, after 100 meters you arrive at the SP 15 where the change begins (Photo 1).
Photo 1
Photo 2
Once you reach the base of the Saiano cliff (foto 2) you can choose the summer route on the left and the winter route on the left. Follow the arrow on the pole.
Download GPS Step 2 in Summer
Download GPS Step 2 in Winter
ATTENTION
Due to works on the Marecchia river, a section of the route in the Ponte Santa Maria Maddalena area is closed to transit and the short detour described here has been prepared.
Once you reach the barrier, turn right and cross the river ford. On the other bank, take the dirt track on the left and follow it until you reach the parking lot of a restaurant. You exit the gate on the right onto the small asphalt road that goes up, staying on this until it ends at a crossroads where you go down to the left, immediately arriving at the bridge over the river and rejoining the Camino route. Download variant GPX - Download variant KML
