Cammino indicates a slow but progressive proceeding with a direction; it is not a simple walk or even a march, which carries within it a what, if not aggressive, of an orderly and uniform, energetic advance toward an external goal that must be conquered. Above all, Cammino indicates that the progress is not only of the human machine, but, in one with it, of the spirit re-entering itself in an ever fuller and deeper grasp of self. It is a journey (another highly symbolic word!) made of inwardness, knowledge and consciousness, meditation and empowerment. The fruits of a walk don’t fall only on those who practice it, but also on those who come across the walkers and observe them, because they become witnesses to “something,” provoke questions (“why do they do it?”) about an activity that has the beauty of gratuitousness.
The idea of a Cammino della Pace from L’Aquila to Monte Sant’Angelo arose and became precise in Luciano Caramanico’s mind in the heat of the April 2009 earthquake. Alessandra, daughter of Caramanico, is a college student in the city. The engineer father’s advice is to stay, in the daily succession of earthquake tremors, in a reinforced concrete building that is considered safer. By a fortuitous chance, on the night of the tragedy the girl was sleeping, instead, in an old, even somewhat dilapidated house in the old town and was saved! The reinforced concrete building crumbles, the masonry one holds up.
The week after the earthquake, Alessandra, who is very devoted to Padre Pio, expresses a desire to make a visit to San Giovanni Rotondo together with her entire family.
The Cammino has its own anticipation, in 2010, on the l’Aquila – Guardiagrele itinerary. It is the result of a twinning between the CAI sections of the two cities; Caramanico is president of the Guardiagrele section.
The earthquake remains a mental bug that drives him to do more and better: the journey must, in the future, take place from L’Aquila to San Giovanni Rotondo and then again to Monte Sant’Angelo.
This is the project.
The decision to translate it into reality is made in consultation with Dr. Ernesto Salerni, who is on the board of ARBOR, a Swiss foundation that works worldwide with intercultural and interfaith humanitarian projects.
Why a Cammino della Pace?
Because peace is the greatest good from which all others originate; it is the hope of every man, in every age! It is not, however, a free gift that falls from above, but the result of the industrious commitment of all people of good will who are disposed to trust in others, benevolence and justice; therefore, the Cammino is open to all, it is interreligious.
Peace sets favorable conditions for human creativity embodied and visible in the diversity of landscapes and their emergence of art; therefore, the Cammino is intercultural.
Implementing a project such as the Cammino della Pace is not easy; it poses many organizational and practical problems, the most important of which is the path. In its identification, carried out through a survey conducted in the area, collaborated with Caramanico Cristoforo Sante Di Giovanni as photographer and Lucio Taraborrelli, who was later co-opted into the project, and was concerned with deepening the historical-cultural dimension of the places to be traversed, which was at first little considered.
Thus was born the Cammino della Pace, 29 stages through three Italian regions, for over 500 km on the steps of History; in July 2018 theAssociation “Cammino della Pace APS” was formally established and both the logo (designed by Chiara Taraborrelli) and the itinerary were registered.
Entities (such as the Maiella National Park), foundations and associations continue to join the Walk, all marching toward green, silent, sustainable tourism that respects the environment, landscape and millennia-old traces of man.