Hidden in the dense forest of the national park are the Benedictine monastery and hermitage of Camaldoli, founded between 1024 and 1025 by St Romuald and now home to a community of 20 or so monks.
From Poppi, take Via Camaldoli (SR67) and follow it up through the forest. You will come to a fork in the road – the hermitage is uphill to the right and the monastery is downhill to the left.
You can visit the monastery's church, which houses three paintings by Vasari. Down a set of stairs off the main road are the forbidding 11th-century cloisters and the austere Cappella dello Spirito Santo, a stone space with an exhibition about daily life in the monastery. Pop into the 16th-century farmacia (pharmacy), accessed from the side of the main building, which sells soap, perfumes and other items made by members of the monastic community.
The hermitage has a small church with a Bronzino altarpiece of the Crucifixion and Four Saints, but the highlight is the Cappella di San Antonio Abate, to the left as you enter the church building. Inside is an exquisite altarpiece by Andrea della Robbia.
