Tempio del Valadier

Leo XII, who came from this area, commissioned the chapel in 1828 and the design is attributed to Giuseppe Valadier, the architect who reshaped Piazza del Popolo in Rome. It is a small octagon of white travertine with a lead dome, built directly into the mouth of a cave in the wall of the Frasassi gorge, so the rock arches over and behind it and the building sits half in shadow. A statue of the Madonna by Antonio Canova stood inside; the original was moved to safety and a copy is in place. A short walk further along the path is the eleventh-century hermitage of Santa Maria infra Saxa, also built into the rock.

What you actually see

• The chapel in the cave - an octagonal marble building inside the rock mouth.
• The hermitage - Santa Maria infra Saxa, built into the cliff nearby.
• The gorge setting - the Frasassi walls rising above the path.
• The Canova copy - a replica of the Madonna removed for safekeeping.

When to go

April to October; the path up is steep and slippery in rain and can be icy in winter. It combines naturally with a Frasassi cave visit in the same valley.

Honest expectations

Access is a steep walk of around twenty minutes with no vehicle option. The chapel interior is very small. The original Canova statue is not there.

Nearby

The Frasassi caves are in the same gorge; Genga lies below.