Il Cammino delle Janare

Some walks are created simply to connect two points on a map, while others seem to stitch together landscape, memory and legend. The Cammino delle Janare belongs to this second category: a crossing of about sixteen kilometres starting from Monte Guardia, in the territory of Benevento, and reaching the Stretto di Barba, one of the most evocative places in the Sabato Valley. Promoted by a wide network of associations led by Fondazione Terre Magiche Sannite ETS, the initiative turns hiking into a collective story, where every stretch of the trail becomes an opportunity to rediscover a less visible yet deeply identity-based side of Sannio. The route passes through rural localities and villages such as Perrillo, Maccoli, Panelli, Montorsi, Pagliara, Bagnara, Chianche and Chianchetelle, alternating agricultural landscapes, dirt paths, natural springs, abandoned mills and historic architecture. This is not only an excursion: it is a journey through the emotional geography of the Janare, central figures in Benevento’s popular imagination, linked to mystery, night, the Walnut Tree and the stories handed down by rural communities. Along the way, narrative stops curated by the participating associations help restore historical and folk depth to the places crossed. Among the most evocative passages are the climb to the village of Montorsi, through a stone staircase of 72 steps, the lunch stop in Pagliara, the crossing of the Sentiero delle Donne in the Gnazio wood at Chianche, and the external visit to the Castle of Chianche and the Norman Tower of Chianchetelle. The final stop, at the Stretto di Barba and the famous Walnut Tree near the railway tunnel, closes the route in a place where nature and legend truly seem to speak to one another. It is a physical walk, of course, but also a symbolic one: a way to cross the territory and listen to what still whispers there.