THE ANCIENT FOREST OF CAMALDOLI IN ITALY 



625 



We listened in rapt attention to the story as recited 

 by the venerable and gracious Prior, as we strolled 

 through the hermitage grounds surrounded by and pic- 

 turesquely set in the tall, sombre, silent forest. In the 

 early days of the Casentino in Tuscany, a monk of nob'e 

 blood, Romualdo, by name, established a wide reputation 

 for his devotion and sanctity until he came to be called 

 San Romualdo. The Count -Maldolo, attracted to him 

 and impressed by his kindly manner, made a present of 

 his large forest domain of about 2.000 acres, lying high 

 along the crest of the Apennine Mountains, about 50 

 miles southeast of Florence, in the headwaters of the 

 storied Arno. Here the count had spent much time in 

 hunting and fishing while stopping at his forest villa. 

 This was in the year 1012 and one of the stipulations of 

 the gift was 

 that the forest 

 must be main- 

 tained for all 

 time in good 

 condition and 

 must be "plant- 

 ed, improved 

 and cultured" 

 according t o 

 the most ap- 

 proved princi- 

 ples of scien- 

 tific forestry. 

 The monks in- 

 terpreted these 

 instructions lit- 

 erally and as a 

 result of their 

 studies, experi- 

 ments and ob- 

 servations the 

 forest was kept 

 in an excellent 

 condition, a s 

 shown in the 

 archives of the 

 old institution. 



Aside from the maintenance of the forest, the monks 

 became renowned for their skill and proficiency in the 

 manufacture of medicines from forest herbs and an excel- 

 lent cordial, the process for which is kept as secret as 

 that for the famous Chartreuse. 



The Benedictine monks of this hermitage maintained 

 the forest down to the year 1866. when it was taken over 

 by the Ita'ian (iovernment. Later it was reorganized 

 and placed under a government forester in 1872. but the 

 monks to this day .still wear the same cowl and cream- 

 colored habit and observe the ohl customs laid down cen- 

 turies ago. Many pilgrims annually visit the old priory, 

 the monk's cells, the cha])els and the interesting ofd relics, 

 such as an original Delia Robhia alta? -piece "and a fine 

 old 16th century oratory carved in solid Italian walnut. 



IN THE CAMALDOLI FOREST 



A shrine in the silver fir forest below the Hermitage where the monks spent much of 

 their spare time in meditation and prayer. A fine new road lias been l)uilt by this revered 

 spot by the Italian Forestry officials. 



The old water-wheel-driven sawmill, practically as it 

 was built about 1550, is still used to cut lumber. In 1915, 

 when Italy entered the war, a larger mill was set up and 

 over 3,000,000 board feet of lumber were cut and rushed 

 to the battle front. Fortunately, the forest, as it was lum- 

 bered, was replanted at once to silver fir so that in a 

 few years little evidence of the destructive cutting, which 

 has stripped the forest bare in places, will be left. 



A large share of the forest is silver fir ,with a small 

 portion of beech and a still smaller area of Italian chest- 

 nut. The fir has proved to be the most profitable from 

 the viewpoint of financial returns, as well as most pleasing 

 from an aesthetic viewpoint. It is cut at an age of 90 to 

 100 years ordinarily. Beech may be cut for charcoal at 

 25 to 50 years of age. while chestnut is maintained largely 



for the nut 

 crop. The for- 

 est is contin- 

 ually thinned 

 and attended 

 so that the 

 m a X i m u in 

 growth is at- 

 t a i n e d and 

 every effort 

 made to ex- 

 clude fire, in- 

 sects or disease 

 of any kind. 

 It is said that 

 the Count Mal- 

 dolo and his 

 family even be- 

 fore the trans- 

 fer of the prop- 

 erty in 1012 to 

 San Roinualdo 

 and his de- 

 voted followers 

 had for some 

 time been in- 

 terested in the 

 p r e s e rvation 

 and care of the forest. The archives show, however, 

 tiiat such excellent care and attention have been given 

 the forest for the past several centuries that the area of 

 mature and productive forest is larger today than ever 

 before, the inferior species having been discouraged and 

 "weeded out," while vacant spaces have been planted 

 and brought under intensive cultivation. Many of the 

 largest silver fir trees being cut for the army at the front 

 had been planted over a century ago by the monks. Only 

 the mature trees, an amount equivalent to the annual 

 growth of the entire forest was permitted to be cut, and 

 from this yield alone the hermitage made a substantial 

 income. Eventually, as the order prospered, mission- 

 aries were sent out from the hermitage as far away as 

 distant Poland and Hungarian Galicia, where the monks 



