Corno alle Scale, Rochetta Mattei

 August 31, 2019

Once settled in my apartment in Bologna, my friends Massimo and Sofia invited me on a hiking excursion. They picked me up at 7 am one Sunday morning and we drove 2 hours to the Appenines, to the park Corno alle Scale. Their dog Millie was an avid companion along for the ride.

Massimo walking along one of the hiking trails.

It’s a 12 - thousand acre park with a variety of hiking trails. Massimo chose an “easier” route for me, which still involved hours of climbing to reach the ridge where you can step into the region of Tuscany along its border with Emilia-Romagna.

The first part of the hike traversed a dense forest, which emerged into an area called Valle del Silenzio (Valley of Silence), with verdant green hills.

Further along, there were wild raspberry and blueberry bushes, and they stopped to pick as many as possible, always sharing their bounty with me.

Sofia and Millie among the blueberries.

The last part of the hike involved a steep climb, so we chose a lower destination, which turned out to be a longer route. (But the higher route was in the clouds, so we were happy with our choice in the end.) We stopped at a rifugio by a small lake, Lago Scaffaiolo, where we rested and shared a plate of polenta con funghi (mushrooms). 

Then we climbed up to the ridge and walked along the border between Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna. We rested again until we heard rumbles of thunder in the distance. 

Walking along the border between Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna

We walked quickly down a rocky, street-like path, which seemed to take forever, but we were loathe to get caught in the rain, which would have turned the path into a slippery, muddy surface. We made it back to the car and stopped at a café bar in a nearby town just as it started to pour.

On the way back to Bologna, we headed to Rochetta Mattei, an unusual castle built by an odd man, starting in 1850. 

Rochetta Mattei

Count Mattei, whose wealth came from  creating a form of homeopathy using electromagnetic waves (electrohomeopathy), created a castle complete with a household court, and lived in isolation, getting more paranoid and crazy as time went on. 

Some of the intricate detail in a castle courtyard.

After he died, attempts were made by various people to turn the castle into a tourist attraction, though it was damaged by German troops in WWII. The castle was finally bought in 2000, restored by a local group, and opened in 2015 for tours. 

The count's resting place in the midst of the castle.

Massimo had made reservations online for the tour, which cost each of us 10 euros. The tour was in Italian – I didn’t understand much of it because the tour guide talked so fast – and it lasted about an hour. Nevertheless, I enjoyed roaming through the many unusual and interesting rooms in the castle. We got back to Bologna about 7:30 pm and I had another walk back to my apartment. I stopped to get a gelato on the way, a treat after walking nearly 10 miles and 24,000 steps. What a jam-packed, rewarding day!