To the Eremo delle Carceri, climbing to the wood where Francis prayed.

The Eremo delle Carceri is a group of cells and chapels in a wooded gorge of Subasio, where Francis and his companions retired to pray. You can get there by road, but walking up from the town you understand why they chose it.

What the Eremo is

Before Francis there was already a chapel here surrounded by caves where hermits retired. With him, the word carceri, prisons, came to mean voluntary confinement in solitude. In 1400 St Bernardino of Siena enlarged it with a small convent and the little church of Santa Maria delle Carceri. It is all set in a dense holm-oak wood, and beside the hermitage grows a very old holm oak, the tree of the birds, where according to tradition the birds perched to sing for the saint.

Why do the hike and who it suits

The route brings together three things in a day: the climb through the woods to the hermitage, the silent visit and an open ending at the Croce di Sassopiano, a cross looking out over the whole Umbrian plain, with Assisi at your feet. It then crosses part of the meadows at the top of Subasio, a landscape of pasture that few people associate with Assisi.

It suits those who walk regularly and can manage about five hours with 500 metres of climbing. There are no technical sections. The park does not consider it a family route: with children, it is better to go up only as far as the Eremo and come back.

Getting to the start

The Rocca Minore, also called Rocchicciola, is in the highest part of Assisi's historic centre, above the Piazza del Comune. If you are staying in the town, you set off on foot from your hotel. If you come by car, park in one of the car parks in the upper part of the old town and walk up: the centre has restricted traffic.

When to go

Spring and autumn are the best times: the woods are green and the temperatures allow you to climb without strain. In summer set off very early, because the upper part and the provincial road have no shade. In winter the summit may have snow or fog; if the day is not clear, stay on the first part, as far as the Eremo.

To avoid crowds at the Eremo, arrive first thing: in mid-morning cars and groups come up the road.

What it costs

Nothing. The path and the visit to the Eremo are free.

If the weather is bad

In rain or fog, the upper part loses its view and the meadow becomes unpleasant. Do only the climb to the Eremo along the track of the 350, which goes almost entirely through the woods, and leave Sassopiano for another day. The alternative in town is the Basilica of St Francis, entirely indoors.