This route is one of the educational itineraries that came about from the collaboration between Villadossola’s middle school and the Club Alpino Italiano (CAI) of Villadossola. It combines artistic and architectural elements with traces of the town’s history in terms of industry, rural life in the upper hamlets and various events of the Italian resistance movement in WWII.
From Piazza Bagnolini in Villadossola - where the chapel of San Rocco (Saint Roch) is - head uphill towards the church of San Maurizio (Saint Maurice). Walk up the stairs and pass along the side of the historic Ceretti Villa (which belonged to the important family which launched the iron and steel industry in the valley), then climb up another set of stairs which leads to the square of Piaggio Sopra (upper Piaggio). Take the mule track that leads to Gaggitti and its chapel. From the chapel, veer off from the route to San Giacomo and turn right to take a trail that leads to Pianasca, a hamlet of Casali. Continue on to the memorial stone of Pianasca, erected in memory of the location’s role as a meeting point and refuge for disbanded soldiers and anti-fascists in October 1943, as they gathered weapons fortuitously found in the early organisational phase of Ossolana’s resistance movement against German occupation.
Once back in the town of Ai Casali, descend by taking trail C03 until the church of Piaggio. Continue on the paved street to return to the starting point.
Last update: 06/03/2018 ore 16:27:56