Camaldoli
New Camaldoli Hermitage, in the Santa Lucia Mountains two miles inland of Highway 1 and three-quarters of a mile south of Lucia. Founded in 1958 by Camaldolese Benedictine monks sent from the thousand-year-old motherhouse at Camaldoli in Tuscany, who spent two years searching for a site combining solitude and natural beauty; they bought 600 acres of the old Lucia ranch. Mabel Plaskett wrote about the new foundation in December 1959, when it was barely a year old. It is still here: about a dozen monks in walled cells with private gardens, a guest ministry and retreat house open to anyone, a bakery, and a bookstore.
mabel article
Camaldoli Hermits Live in Seclusion
Behind a mosaic sign south of Lucia, white-robed monks keep medieval silence on 600 acres above the Pacific.
mabel article
Few Drives as Scenic as Coast’s Cabrillo Highway
Where does Big Sur begin and end? Mabel settles it, then takes you the whole way — San Simeon to Point Lobos, stop by stop. Now with our interactive map and free PDF drive guide.
Everyone the family archive records in the story of this place. Descendants: if one of these is yours, we’d love to hear from you.