The mountain sung by Dante
In the Reggio Apennines, near the town of Castelnovo ne' Monti, a strange mountain rises above the green hills: the Pietra di Bismantova, a huge isolated block of sandstone, with vertical walls about 300 metres high and a flat top at about 1,047 metres, which from a distance looks like the hull of an overturned ship or a giant table of stone. Formed millions of years ago from the sediments of an ancient sea, it is a symbol of the Apennines of Emilia and part of the Appennino Tosco-Emiliano National Park, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
The mountain has fascinated people since ancient times: there are traces of prehistoric settlements, and Dante Alighieri, who probably passed through here during his exile, mentioned it in the fourth canto of the Purgatorio, comparing it to the steep climb of the mountain of Purgatory. At the foot of the cliffs, there is a small hermitage, with a sanctuary of the fifteenth century built against the rock. From here, a path, partly carved into the rock, climbs in about half an hour to the top, a large wooded plateau with meadows and a view that sweeps over the Apennine ridge and, on clear days, as far as the Alps. The vertical walls of the Pietra are one of the most famous climbing sites in the northern Apennines, with hundreds of routes, and there is also a via ferrata.
Tip: the path to the top is easy but steep in places, wear good shoes; at the hermitage there is a refuge where you can eat.
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