study by a sociologist revealed that more and more women in Italy are opting to lead a hermit's life and turn their backs from the modern world.

Sociologist Isacco Turina, a professor at the University of Bologna, said there are over 1,000 hermits currently in the country and many more all over Europe and the United States, a majority of whom are women. But these modern hermits no longer wear long beards and hide away in caves, instead they live in apartments and surf the Internet.

"At the risk of sounding like a caricature, the average hermits are the sort of people who belong on the plains," Professor Turina was quoted by British newspaper 'The Daily Telegraph' as saying.

Turina tracked down 37 hermits for his book 'The New Hermits, The Flight from the World in Modern Italy'. Hermits became popular across Europe during the Middle Ages. Back then, they were seen as precursors of the monastic orders.

According to Turina, the return of the hermits started in 1983 when the Vatican offered "full recognition" to those who were willing to renounce worldly life and devote their lives to the solitary "praise of God".

"The requests to take up a hermit's life have multiplied, although there is no institutional guide on how to do it," Prof Turina claimed. The solitary life, according him, usually appealed to "avant-garde" worshippers. Several of the hermits that Turina had interviewed were artists, architects and writers.