Cammino di San Cristoforo - L'Anello Val Meduna

The Cammino di San Cristoforo – L’Anello Val Meduna, the wild gem of the Cammino di San Cristoforo, invites you to discover an authentic Friuli, among silent villages and enchanted forests.

DISCOVER THE STAGES

The Cammino di SAN CRISTOFORO - L'ANELLO VAL MEDUNA is one of the three routes of the Cammino di San Cristoforo - L'Anello Val Meduna, an itinerary of more than 350 km that crosses 25 municipalities in Western Friuli. It is a journey through spectacular landscapes, history and traditions, where art and nature blend with the evidence of a millenary culture.
The path winds between two UNESCO Sites - the Neolithic pile-dwelling site of Palù di Livenza and the Friulian Dolomites - and includes places of rare beauty such as the Magredi and the historic villages of the piedmont, enriched by castles, churches and traces of a past ranging from prehistory to industrial archaeology. It is an itinerary that invites you to immerse yourself in the biodiversity of the area and to meet the local communities, whose hospitality makes the experience even more special.

Meduna Valley Ring
The Meduna Valley is perhaps the most intimate and hidden route of this walk. Having left the plains, here you enter an elsewhere made up of small hamlets, forests, waters and rocks, and ascents and descents that engage the body even more and abandon your thoughts to devote yourself to contemplating the genuine beauty of this valley.

Meduno welcomes you as a gateway to these treasures, a small town, made up of hamlets, like islands, united by the forest and a thousand paths. It is the starting point for an ascent that will take you to contemplate the Pre-Alps and then the Alps stretching almost endless northward, or the Friulian plain to the Gulf of Trieste in the Adriatic Sea.

Mount Valinis is the highest point of the Cammino di San Cristoforo, a privileged place from which the “travelers” and “travelers” of the air launch themselves with their hang gliders and paragliders, slender figures that you will see circling like the birds of prey in these areas, above the riverbeds of the Meduna and Tagliamento, the last wild river in Europe.

After admiring the world from above and leaving Meduno behind you, the invitation is to enter a privileged space and time, of small silent or abandoned villages, witnesses of a time of absolute symbiosis with the forces of nature. Those living forces, of rocks, trees, meadows and sudden pools of vibrant colors that surprise those like you who are looking for something more, beyond appearances.

Scheda Tecnica

  • Lunghezza:

    54 km

  • Tappe:

    3

  • Partenza:

    Meduna

  • Arrivo:

    Clauzetto

  • Periodo ideale:

    all year round

HISTORY

The Cammino di San Cristoforo in Friuli Venezia Giulia, was born in 2018 by the happy intuition of Dr. Forestry Luisa Cappellozza and Architect Giorgio Viel, with the desire to create connections between the valleys already served by the pedemontana railway and the FVG3 bike path, enhancing the landscape, historical and artistic beauty of the area, from the Livenza to the Tagliamento, the last wild river in Europe.

Montagna Leader immediately seized the opportunity to give space to this project by investing in ideas and professionalism, and today as the managing body of the Cammino it coordinates the various initiatives, putting at the center the economic and cultural operators and the communities that are increasingly open to welcoming walkers.

The Cammino di San Cristoforo is listed on the FVG Registry of Paths and in the Catalogue of Italian Religious Paths of the Ministry of Tourism.

It is dedicated to St. Christopher, the patron saint of travelers, pilgrims and walkers, who with his staff fords the river carrying the Child on his shoulder (Christopher=bearer of Christ). He is depicted on the outside and inside of many churches along the path and near fords, to protect and benevolently welcome anyone who sets out on the journey.

The more than 100 churches and parish churches present offer pilgrims moments of spirituality and recollection in pleasant places and oases of peace. Each one preserves a vast heritage of works of art, the result of a centuries-old school of painting and sculpture that reached its peaks with masters such as Giovanni Antonio de’ Sacchis called the Pordenone, Pomponio Amalteo, Gasparo Narvesa, Giovanni Francesco dal Zotto called Gianfrancesco da Tolmezzo, Marco Tiussi da Spilimbergo, Giovanni Antonio Bassini called the Pilacorte, and Ghirlanduzzi.

WATER SOURCES.

Present in abundance along the Foothills Trail, the entire route passes through villages and hamlets.

SERVICES

At each STAGE there are small towns where you can find small grocery stores or supermarkets. There is also the possibility of buying typical and local products directly from the businesses along the way.

 

PHARMACIES:

  • 1st STAGE: Meduno (1), Campone2nd STAGE: Campone, Tramonti di Sopra, Tramonti si Sotto,Palcoda, Campone none

    3rd STAGE: Campone, Clauzetto (1)

SIGNAGE

The signage on the Camino di San Cristoforo is clear and well-organized to accompany you step by step along the percorsoio. Here’s what you’ll find:

  • Directional: 20×10 cm tables with a brown background and the color of the path you are following (yellow for the Pedemontana, green for the Magredi Path, blue for the Meduna Valley Ring). Each table includes the Cammino logo and a directional arrow accompanied by the location to be reached.
  • Signposts: 10×15 cm tables with background of the color of the path. These also bear the logo of the Way and are often fixed on poles or trees, following their natural shape to blend into the environment.
  • Studs: 11 cm diameter bronze plates with the logo and directional arrow embossed on them. These particular markers are found in places where traditional supports are lacking and are fixed on walls or directly on the roadbed.

IN TENT

It is possible to camp in the village of Tramonti di Sotto.

ROAD BOTTOM.

64% asphalt

36% trail/terrain

The route is on:

33% roads inhibited to vehicular traffic

55% roads with little vehicular traffic

CREDENTIALS

MANDIpass is the credential for the Camino and is free.

Available at the PromoTurismoFVG office in Pordenone, the IAT offices in Maniago, Spilimbergo, Toppo di Travesio, Tramonti di Sopra, the Albergo Diffuso in Clauzetto, Polcenigo, Vivaro, Tramonti di Sotto, and the Community Cooperative Together in Meduno,

CONTACTS

Mountain Leader Association Scarl

Via Venezia, 18/c

33085 Maniago (Pn)

gal@montagnaleader.org

tel. 0427 71775

STAGE 01

STAGE 01: Meduno – Campone

Length: 8.5 km

An evocative route in the Meduna Valley follows the Chiarzò stream, offering a nature walk through woods and silence. The STAGE begins in Meduno, crossing old mountain roads that connected hamlets that are now sparsely populated. After a slight climb, the route descends to the stream, taking you through intense spring colors or golden shades of autumn, until you reach Campone, an ideal place to enjoy peace and natural beauty.

Mount Valinis Digression

Length: 3.5 km

This digression is a hike with not too much elevation gain, designed to take you to the highest point of the entire Camino, on Mount Valinis.

From Forchia di Meduno, a 450-meter climb takes you through forests rich in color and charm, especially in late spring and fall.

Reaching the top of the mountain, you will immediately spot the “take-off ramp” of hang gliders and paragliders, with people coming here from neighboring Austria and beyond to take advantage of the special updrafts. As you enjoy the spectacle of those circling and freeing themselves in the air, below you expands the Friulian plain, with the Meduna and Tagliamento riverbeds, with a clear horizon all the way to the Gulf of Trieste and beyond.

STAGE 02

STAGE 02: Campone – Campone

Length: 22.5 km

The STAGE in Valtramontina gives a journey through quiet forests, panoramic views of Lake Redona and places rich in history. The route leads to the ancient hamlet of Palcoda, once a commercial hub and now renovated thanks to mountain tourism, with its precious church. The STAGE ends in Tramonti di Sotto, a village that resists depopulation by combining traditions, crafts and innovation, offering visitors an authentic and evocative experience. A challenging but fascinating route.

Emerald puddles digression

Length: 3.2 km

A short, intense walk will bring you into contact with one of the treasures of this valley.

At first you encounter the village of Tramonti di Sopra, with traces of its not so remote history after all, of a time of symbiosis between human beings and nature. Leaving the last houses you immediately enter the forest, climbing slightly you almost feel as if you are in a canyon where the invitation is to contemplate the emerald-colored waters of the Meduna stream that stand out among white limestone rocks enclosed in this narrow valley.

The emerald pools are an accessible and free natural spectacle that stand out in the landscape all year round; however, the advice is to avoid summer weekends.

Tàmar digression

Length: 2.3 km

Another short digression, with a small drop, connects two streams in the valley, the Tarcenò and the Chiarzò.

The boundless quiet of these places allows you to walk through the woods until you reach Tàmar, one of the most evocative abandoned hamlets in the Tramontina Valley. Depopulated after World War II, in recent years it is experiencing a sort of rebirth with treks and various cultural activities proposed by local associations, thanks also to the creation of a hikers’ shelter run by CAI.

Its vast lawn becomes an ideal space to rest–or to see hundreds of stars at night.

STAGE 03

STAGE 03: Campone – Clauzetto

Length: 9.9 km

The trail begins in Campone, a quiet place in the Meduna Valley, surrounded by forests and few dwellings. You pass through an ancient world of beech trees, meadows and mountain farming life in harmony with nature.

Toward the middle of the short but intense route we reach Pradis, a town rich in scenery and history. The cave, canyon, and prehistoric artifacts attract visitors and cavers. The STAGE ends with a panoramic view across the Friulian plain to the Gulf of Trieste and Istria. Clauzetto, the “balcony of Friuli,” is the final point.

Military cemetery digression

Length: 4.1 km

At Pradis, a short loop digression of a few kilometers takes you to the Val da Ros military cemetery created to collect the bodies of Italian and German soldiers who fell in the Battle of Pradis in November 1917, after the defeat of Caporetto, when the whole area of Friuli, including its mountains, was severely affected by the Austro-German offensive.
Beyond the history of the human and its tragedies, the walk is always a chance to enjoy the peace of the free nature of this land.

  • STAGE 01 - Landscape in Meduno
  • STAGE 02 - Trails in Tramonti di Sopra
  • STAGE 03 - Pradis Caves - Clauzetto
  • STAGE 03 - St. James Parish Church - Clauzetto