Pope to Puglia – Day 3. Giulianello to Sermoneta 28km

A 9-hour day, longer than expected, through olive groves, by a 1st century Temple of Hercules and with several steep ascents, but Sermoneta proved worth it.  This well-preserved medieval town owes its place in art and culture to the Caetani family who in the 12^th century built an elegant castle around which the town grew.

Pope Boniface VIII, a Caetani, took refuge there before he was killed by Phillip IV of France who, in turn, moved the papacy to Avignon.  Not satisfied merely that Boniface was dead, Phillip persuaded the new French Pope, Clement V, to try him, posthumously, for heresy and sodomy.   Boniface never saw it coming.      

History wasn’t through with Sermoneta. 300 years later Pope Alexander VI, a Borgia Pope, converted the castle into a mighty, but austere, fortress for which the Sermonetans never forgave him.   The main church, Santa Maria Assunta, boasts frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli which alone should make the town a must see.  And, finally, the movie Silk with Keira Knightley was filmed there and everyone we met had dinner with her. 

A long way up