Lenola lies on a hill between the Ausoni and the Aurunci Mountains, on the former most important transhumance route, which once connected the Valley of the Liri River with the Plain of Fondi – Monte San Biagio.
Remains of walls, water conducts and rustic villas from the Roman era are still visible today all around the medieval village. Let us have a walk into the historic centre, with its peculiar houses leaning against each other along the narrow alleys, and climb the steps up to the site of the no longer existing Baronial Palace.
Basilica Santuario Maria Santissima del Colle in Lenola – www.comune.lenola.lt.it
Further up the hill, overlooking the historic burg, stands the Santuario della Madonna del Colle, surrounded by the centuries-old trees of the “Parco dei Monti Aurunci”. The single-nave sanctuary, consecrated in 1610, hosts an eighteenth-century painting of the Virgin with Child, by the architect Ambrini and, in the churchyard, the Mosaic of the Emigrants.
Two intensely felt religious events take place in Lenola, the Feast of the Madonna del Colle, celebrated in mid-September, and the Feast of San Rocco, on August 16.
Scalinata della Pace in Lenola – Facebook @Pro Loco Lenola APS
The Sanctuary is connected to the village through the 110-step Scalinata della Pace, decorated with mosaics on the subject of peace, created by the French Master Bruno Amman and based on sketches by international artists. Each step, a remarkable work of art, represents a stage of the great “Mosaic of Peace”. The staircase, build in the respect of the pre-existing structure from 1925, was completed in 1987. The decorated paving depicts traditional child’s plays, such as jump rope or ball game. On the small square, we can admire a sculpture in the rock by the local artist Peppino Quinto, representing some children at play under the watchful eye of a breastfeeding mother.
Basilica Santuario Madonna del Colle – Facebook @madonnadelcolle
At the end of the square, where the Porta del Colle once stood, the staircase begins. It is said that here, on September 15, 1602, Gabriele Mattei from Lenola found a sacred image of the Madonna and converted to Christianity. The young man began to travel all around Europe to collect the necessary funds to build the Santuario del Colle di Lenola, promoted, in 2015, to Basilica Pontificia by Pope Francesco.
Madonna del Colle Torchlight Procession in Lenola, Calo del Quadro – Facebook Andrea Panno @madonadelcolle
The Feast of the Madonna del Colle, a historical event attracting thousands of faithful, curious spectators, and even foreign tourists, takes place from September 5 to 15. The celebrations begin on September 5, with the midday Procession attended by pilgrims from the surrounding districts and neighbouring towns and the ceremony of the “Calo del Quadro”, when the Virgin Mary is exhibited at the gates of the village.
Torchlight procession in honour of the Madonna del Colle in Lenola – Calo del Quadro – Facebook Andrea Panno @madonnadelcolle
Feast culminates on September 15 at 8 pm with the brightly lit up bell tower and the Artistic Torchlight Procession.
Mount Appiolo – www.comune.lenola.lt.it
Mount Appiolo, almost 1000 metres high, rises in the “Parco Regionale dei Monti Aurunci”. From the top, you can enjoy a breathtaking view embracing the village of Lenola, the Fondi Plain, the Pontine Islands and the Mountains of Abruzzo. The old shepherds, who lead the cattle to both the slopes of Lenola and Campodimele, still call the Mount “Cima della Croce” after a cross which once stood there. The Monumento Naturale Cima del Monte – Acquaviva – Quercia del Monaco, within the “Parco Naturale Monti Ausoni e Lago di Fondi”, is a patchwork of woodland, spontaneous orchids and archaeological remains. A brigandage territory at the time of the Italian Unification, the Acquaviva Hill offers a magnificent view of the Ausoni Mountains, the Fondi Lake and the Circeo Promontory.
Sculpture by Andrea Gandini in Lenola – Instagram @andrea.gandini
Worth mentioning is the local artist Andrea Gandini, the Sculptor of the Dead Trunks, who carves remarkable works of art into the folds and scars of tree trunks, such as the one portraying the small village of Lenola, with its pretty perched houses.