A delightful walk may be made from the car park at the village of Lucignana in the municipality of Coreglia Antelminelli to the Romitorio of Sant’Ansano.

Romitorio means hermitage and Sant’Ansano was a member of a well-to-do Roman family. Born in 284 AD Sant’Ansano preached the gospel in Siena as a result of which he was arrested and ordered to be killed by having boiling pitch poured over him. However, Sant’Ansano survived this and was instead beheaded in 303. Sant’Ansano’s body eventually found burial in Siena cathedral and he remains that city’s first patron Saint.

The first part of the walk takes one down through a forest of holm oak to a purling stream.

Crossing this stream the paths winds upwards and emerges from the forest to reveal a view of the hermitage.

Situated on Lecciaia hill the hermitage’s origins are not known. However,  it already existed in 1000.  The church was transformed into an oratory in the twelfth century and two centuries later the parsonage was used as a hermitage.

In the fourteenth century the arcaded porch was erected in front of the façade.

Abandoned for many years the church has recently been well restored by the people of Lucignana.

The walk is not at all strenuous, passes through delightfully sylvan countryside and the hermitage porch is a pleasant venue to enjoy a sandwich lunch. (The hermitage church always seems closed.)

Incidentally, Sant’Ansano is also the patron saint of Ponte a Moriano on the way to Lucca. The two statues on the town’s bridge represent the Virgin and Sant’Ansano who is celebrated by a festival there in November. (See my description of the festival at https://longoio2.wordpress.com/2015/12/03/ponte-a-morianos-santansano-festival/