Parco Nazionale Arcipelago Toscano

Easy trail

• Trail Conditions: On foot
• Interest: Flora, Wildlife, Panorama, Religion

• Departure: Marciana
• Arrival: Marciana
• Duration: 3 hour/s
• Difficulty Level: easy
• Length: 5.2 km
• Difference in height: Uphill 322m

This charming itinerary follows path No 103 from Marciana, by the Casa del Parco. Take the uphill path, which is actually an ancient granite-paved road, and in a few minutes you will reach the first of 14 roadside shrines forming a Via Crucis, and the junction with path 157 to Marciana Marina. Paths 113 to La Zanca and 110 to Mt. Capanne also branch off from our way, which winds on the northern side of Mt. Giove. Almost on top of the uphill stretch the low-growing vegetation allows us to see, on the opposite watershed, an eagle-shaped rock standing out against the sky. Millennium-long erosion has conferred bizarre shapes to several rocks on the Capanne massif, inspiring evocative place names such as "The Eagle" and "The Boulder Man" already in the 18th century. The path gets steeper; once arrived at the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Monte you will find the same four centuries-old chestnut trees that welcomed Countess Maria Walewska, when she came to Elba in September 1814 to visit her lover Napoleon Bonaparte during his exile. The sanctuary dates back to the 12th century and is therefore the island's most ancient. Tradition has is that the church was built following the miraculous finding of a stone on which the Virgin was painted. At the sanctuary you can drink the water springing from the three masks adorning a wonderful exedra granite fountain built in 1698 and known as Teatro della Fonte. To continue the walk take path 103B to Aquila where you can climb on the granite boulders to enjoy a wonderful view; then walk back to the main path, which is flat as far as Serraventosa, from where you can look over the eastern side of Mt. Capanne and see some of the most typical Mediterranean maquis plants grow together: common broom, strawberry tree, helichrysum, genista desoleana, and several types of rock rose. Walk back to the point of departure on the same path.