The foot of the Madonna

Bike

6 February 2020

Bike

The foot of the Madonna

When describing cycling routes there is no more difficult task than trying to talk about the goal by voluntarily neglecting the route. In this story, I will turn the rules around.
The goal will no longer be the lie that “forces” us to go along the roads, cross the bridges, face the climbs and hold our breath downhill, but will become the real protagonist of the story.
The road curves gently to the left. Illuminated by an amber-coloured sun, the Musi mountains form an imposing wall.
Their verticality strikes me so unexpectedly that for a moment I have the illusion of being at the lowest point of a canyon where the sky is made of grass, the trees grow on the slopes and slide towards the Monteaperta plain leaving room only for the meadow hill on top of which stands the church of the Holy Trinity. Small, simple, ancient, white, delicate.

Hymn of the love of man for the Madonna, architectural song to nature, celebration of the balance between heaven and earth.
I look at the road that leads to its entrance and decided to face the cobbled stones on my bike.
A few meters from its small doors I realise that this delicate jewel encloses among its stones the pride and strength of the inhabitants of this strip of land, so ancient and stubborn as to be able to preciously preserve the Torre Slavic dialect after more than a millennium.

I walk along the nave dating back to 1455. The purity of its white, the fragility of the remains of the frescoes found after the terrible earthquake of 1976, the simplicity of the altar and the emotional power of the votive hearts hanging on one of the walls envelop me.
I sit on one of the benches and try to listen to myself.
“Andrea, there you are”.
So I decide to go out and let myself be enveloped by the divinity of nature that surrounds the church.
I fill my bottle with water at the Alpini fountain and set off towards the climbs that lead here from the nearby plains and valleys.
They are one more beautiful than the other, but that is a different story. While this is the story of a destination.

TOURIST INFO: Gianni Albertini - Facebook “A.M.A. MONTEAPERTA”
“The two footprints, quite similar, gave birth to the legend of the apparition of the Madonna to a few shepherds [...]. As evidence of her presence, she left her footprint imprinted on a boulder and at the same time she expressed the desire to have a dedicated a sanctuary there. Since at that height and in those times (1400) such a work would not be easy, the Madonna agreed to indicate - in a second appearance and with a second imprint - a less difficult location closer to the town, which would be precisely the place today called AL PIEDE DELLA MADONNA (at the foot of the Madonna)"
[Carlo Noacco - primary school teacher. With his research, his writings and his passion keeps the history of Monteaperta alive]

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Andrea Fuccaro

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I have been in the world for 40 years and I have had wheels for 10 years. I love cycling but I don't know how to choose between a road bike and a mountain bike. I love the silence, slopes, greenery and wild scenery of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. I will tell you about the "no logo" climbs that will put your legs to the test but, above all, your emotions.