On the cliff of a rugged valley, at 1227 metres, the hermitage of Saint Giovanni is truly the most inaccessible of the hermitages visited by Celestino V. He lived there in various periods of strict penance and almost uninterrupted between 1284 and 1293. Even during the periods of the saint’s absences, the hermitage was lived in by his disciples.
Therefore, today you see only the hermit’s quarter of the convent. In fact, in the shelter below, there was a chapel, the monks’ cells and guest quarters for the pilgrims. The access to the hermitage is by a staircase and a walkway dug out of the cliffwall. As you near the entrance it is necessary to crawl for several metres (in the past there was a wooden footbridge).
Once you enter you find, dug into the rock, two small rooms with numerous niches and a small altar. Of interest is the water system carved into the rock which collects rain water, then taken to a cistern.