Among the cherry trees to the Sanctuary
For the entire 25 km of the walk, the landscape consists of endless stretches of olive trees, vineyards, and almond groves; pleasant exceptions are the roadside cherry trees, which offer me handfuls of their fruit. Here and there, farmers are pruning trees or driving their tractors.
The route climbs gently, and in less than six hours I reach my destination. I follow the guide’s advice and, before entering the village, stop by the Sanctuary of Santa Maria degli Angeli. It’s lunchtime and the church is closed (I’ll make up for it later), but from the forecourt there’s a wide view stretching all the way to the sea — well worth the uphill detour. I have a light lunch at the only open bar on the town’s half-empty main square.
Santa Maria Degli Angeli and the Mercadante forest
In Cassano accommodation for the night is at Paolo’s, an available and cheerful stage coordinator who has created a hostel called ‘Ca’ Felice’ in the basement of his house; he is also the creator of the various stamps that are placed on pilgrims’ credentials at each stage. In the afternoon he suggests to me and the other guest to take a tour of the surroundings: he drives us and the first stop is the Sanctuary of Santa Maria Degli Angeli, which is open from 4:30 pm; Paolo – with a background as an art historian – tells us the fascinating story of the grotto and the painting in detail. We then continue for a nice tour in the Mercadante forest among the ‘pools’ (ancient underground tanks for water accumulation) and the enormous centuries-old oak trees.
Sant’Euligio, a saint’s shinbone
To properly end this long and intense day, Paolo gives us a ride to Pecora Nera, a large and very famous pub that is a point of reference for all beer lovers, which has recently become a B&B as well. Besides the assortment of draught beers and admiring the vast displays of cans, bottle caps, beer mugs, coasters and everything related to hops, the pub is worth visiting to taste the house specialty – pork shin – and to finally meet the figure of Sant’Euligio, a joint creation of Paolo and Pino, the owner of the place: the two are linked by an old friendship and a cheerful and authentic propensity for joking and fun.
