Short panoramic walk from Vaccheria on Mount San Leucio
This short flat walk, from the Vaccheria district along Mount San Leucio, is part of longer and more challenging routes. I propose it, however, also as an autonomous path, to be covered with any type of shoes and clothing, being however very pleasant and extremely panoramic. It lends itself, in fact, to sgambate without obligation, to be done even with children in tow, for those who want to enjoy the splendid view of the Campania plain or, more simply, help the post-lunch digestion.
We leave the car in Piazza Madonna delle Grazie, in the Bourbon qurtiere of Vaccheria, and we begin the only very short uphill stretch on Via dei Cotonieri. We keep to the right at the first junction, we pass the gate just ahead and in a short time we will have almost completed the total difference in height which, I remember, is just 20 meters.
The first stretch, of about a kilometer, is covered immersed in a thick forest of holm oaks, the typical vegetation of the Tifatini mountains. It is, therefore, well shaded and can be traveled safely even on hot summer days.
Once the forest is finished, Vesuvius appears
After the forest, the horizon in front of us opens onto the Campana plain. A little further on, the Belvedere Monumental Complex begins to appear, then the Royal Palace and at the bottom vesuvius and the Lattari mountains up to Punta Campanella and Capri. Truly a wonderful show!
We continue on our path. Now you skirt, from above, the Belvedere Complex. It is thus possible to appreciate its structure and harmony as a whole. The Royal Terraced Gardens, the Historic Apartment with its courtyards and clock tower, the ancient Silk Factory and the chimney. And then the village of San Leucio with its colorful houses and heavy historical heritage, a concrete example of real socialism wanted by Ferdinandi IV and interrupted by the advent of the Neapolitan Republic in 1799.
Beyond the Belvedere and back
A wide curve to the left, a little further on, and the Belvedere is behind us. Vesuvius and the Palace, however, are still there to keep us company in the last seven hundred meters that still separate us from Via dei Giardini Reali, the final destination of our walk. To indicate the arrival we will find another gate and then the asphalt.
Let’s enjoy, meanwhile, these last steps in a changing landscape. If the background of the plain is constant, the appearance of the hill changes instead, which, welcomed with a forest, now envelops us with a more barren landscape, made of stony surfaces and bushy shrubs. And then the return, where a different point of view offers us the opportunity to discover new details, new fascinating views.
