Pizzi of Sant'Andrea
Pizzi of Sant'Andrea
From the hills of Serrara down towards the sea along a scenic route through a gorge in the rocks, takes us to Cavascura. The gorge was carved by the erosion of flood events that have acted on the very friable nature of the terrain creating cracks and narrow passages between steep walls of rock which, after long stretches of darkness, the light from the open sea. The porous rock has been eroded in some places so as to take the form of many spires and pinnacles of a cathedral: we are at St Andrew's peaks, or even said Pizzi Bianchi.
Many caves dug into the rock along the alternate route, some penetrate deeply and are divided into several rooms by makeshift walls or pillars that support the natural vault.
Just below hidden in the rocks and vegetation, there is what should have been a hermitage, with tiny rooms on two floors connected by an internal staircase, also carved in the rock. On the first level you can still see an enclosure for animals, a cistern for collecting water, niches and recesses in the walls of the rooms, objects, and to lay in an outdoor area, also carved into the rock, the kitchen with a fireplace. On the upper level there is a small church with an altar built in the rock, illuminated by typical opening in the ceiling that served both to give light to signal both pirate raids on the nearby coast: a designed environment where some hermit living in meditation.