As soon as you step foot into the Ermitage, you are struck by a sense of something greater than yourself. The air is thick with a mysterious history and unknown, almost otherworldy entities seem to walk just outside your field of vision. Yet somehow the wind rustling through the leaves and the dappled sunlight seem to create an atmosphere of light and calm that reaches deep inside you, soothing you very soul. Let your eyes revel in the millions of shades of green, brown and gold as you walk in the footsteps of the hermits. Get a rare glimpse into the past when you visit their secret spots and sacred monuments. Magic abounds in the ancient grottos, hidden caves, fading carvings telling legends of knights in shining armour and most of all in the Birseck castle ruins sitting atop the hill, whose parapets and battlements appear to have leapt off the pages of a fairytale. You cannot help but feel sobered by this sanctity of peace and refuge, where reflection and musing seems the only natural thing to do. It is rumoured that if you stay quiet enough, and listen hard enough, you’ll catch the faint, hushed whispers of the original inhabitants float by on the breeze.