Second good reason? The hike in the rock that leads to the hermitage. Suggestive and relaxing but with a dizzying pinch: in short, the ideal way to emotionally prepare yourself to reach the Sanctuary.
Last but not least, the bear. Don’t be sad to see such a beast confined inside the sanctuary, there is a reason for that too.
The famous bears of the Sanctuary of San Romedio live in the wildlife area adjacent to the entrance in semi-freedom.
The presence of bears in this place of worship is linked to the legend according to which Romedio, by then an old man, had walked towards the city of Trento determined to meet the Bishop Vigil. Along the way his horse would have been mauled by a bear, but Romedio did not give up and approached the beast. He miraculously managed to tame and ride it to Trento. When on his return from Trento Romedio chose to devote his life to hermitage, the bear became his sole companion until his death.
Remembering this legend in 1958, Senator Count Gian Giacomo Gallarati Scotti, an honorary member of the WWF foundation committee in Italy, bought Charlie, a bear destined to die so that his skin could be sold, and donated him to the sanctuary of San Romedio. Since then, the wildlife area of the sanctuary of San Romedio has always given shelter to specimens of bears otherwise destined to a sadder fate.
Today the sanctuary of San Romedio is home to “Bruno”: a beautiful specimen of bear from Abruzzo.
