The hermitage of San Bartolomeo in Legio is located on a wide ledge carved into one of the rock walls bordering the deep valley of Santo Spirito in the northern Maiella, near Roccamorice Village. After passing through the small village we will briefly follow the road that leads to the Maiella Mountain. After parked, we will proceed for an easy path that gently slops down towards the valley. The view offer a lot of ideas for landscape photos: flowers, spikes rock, steep ravines .

There we will find ourself, unexpectedly, on the ledge where the hermitage is built after dropped a short flight of steps carved into the bottom of a large hole in the roof rock .

The large terrace is protected by a wall full of votive graffiti or just remember the day spent on site; overlooking below you will discover the spectacular bed of a river, which has almost disappeared, entirely excavated in a rock bed.

The hermitage , which occupies half part of the terrace , was built in the second half of the thirteenth century by Pietro Angeleri , the future Pope Celestine V , on the ruins of an existing shelter.

From the nearby Abbey of the Santo Spirito, the holy man use to retire during Lent in search of solitude and peace.

Inside, the church, contains a few poor objects: three chairs for the convenience of those who want to gather in a moment of silence, a few plastic flowers discolored by time, small votive images. A simple niche above on the altar contains a small wooden statue of St.Bartholomew, who has, on his left shoulder, as object of his martyrdom, his skin rolled up with his head hanging down.

To get a full view of the spectacular location must go down the steep steps to the bed of the stream. The silence is almost overall, only the gurgle of a small perennial spring breaks the mystical atmosphere that you could breathe. There are countless photographic opportunities, in terms of particulars and large points of view. A few tens of meters from the hermitage, in a large rock shelter was find a Paleolithic flint quarry with thousands of shards and semi-finished with the same precious material.

We return along the same path, the light has changed, revealing new nooks and caves in the walls of the deep valley.

Reached our transports we proceed along the same road until we reach briefly the spectacular Abbey of the Santo Spirito, where Pietro Angelerio founded the monastic order of Celestine. The construction develops in height favoring the steep rock wall. Holy Stairs, hermitages, cells, terraces, small chapels: a succession of wonders to photograph.

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