Your adventure on the Silent Way is coming to an end. Before you still have about sixty kilometers to go before you leave Cilento and its people for good. The last stage is also known as the artists’ stage: from music to fine arts, nothing will be left out to greet your passage through the Cilento area.
The early morning descent from Mount Gelbison will not have been an easy thing: even in August at these altitudes, temperatures are quite low and it’s a good idea to cover up well, with gloves and a windbreaker before setting out.
From Novi Velia, you will move in the direction of Cannalonga. Both small villages, bordering each other, are known for very successful popular events, respectively the Festival Degli Antichi Suoni in Novi and the Fiera della Frecagnola in Cannalonga, .This is, in the first case, an event that calls together players of ciaramelle, bagpipes, beating guitars, accordions and flutes, from all over southern Italy; in the second, a centuries-old fair characterized by the preparation, in traditional shacks, of boiled goat, an ancient local dish.
Between August and September, Cilento is all about celebration. Moio della Civitella, a few kilometers from Cannalonga, is home to the Mojoca event. Every year, in early August, the town is transformed into a large stage attracting street artists from all over Italy to its alleys and small squares.
Almost united with Moio is the hamlet of Pellare, home to the Cilento Museum of Peasant Civilization and the workshop of the great sculptor Emanuele Stifano. Stop by and visit him; he will be happy to show you his work and tell you about his work. From Pellare the route continues in the direction of Gioi, where another great Cilento author, the painter Mario Romano, will be waiting for you in his house museum and, if you are lucky, will accompany you on a tour of the town’s ancient churches. Beyond Gioi, we reach Piano Vetrale, a center known for its numerous murals and for being the birthplace of Cilento’s greatest artist, Paolo De Matteis, a highly esteemed painter of European stature, active mainly in Baroque Naples at the turn of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. You leave the built-up area via a beautiful descent to the valley below, where a long straight stretch will lead you back to the Alento Plain, at the height of Omignano Scalo. Passing through the village you will first reach Vallo Scalo Scalo and, at the last crossroads, turn left to Castelnuovo Cilento: the crenellated tower that can be glimpsed among the foliage of the forest is ready to welcome you back as you conclude your extraordinary journey along the Silent Way.