Tour audio Livio Venturino Path - Ecomuseum of Rocche of Roero

Livio Venturino Path connects the two villages of Montaldo Roero and Baldissero d'Alba, and therefore can be traveled both with departure from Montaldo Roero (P.za Viglione), and from Baldissero d'Alba (p.za Martiri).

AUDIOGUIDE IN THE REALIZATION PHASE: AT THE MOMENT ONLY THE GPX TRACK IS PRESENT TO TRAVEL THE PATH WITH THE GEOLOCALIZED MAP.

TECHNICAL DATA:

Length: 6 km
Journey time: 2 h
Difference in altitude: 240 m
Fund: 80% naturalistic path, 20% asphalted path.
Difficulty: EF (Easy Hiker)
Difficulty: MD (Mountain Bike Difficult)

ITINERARY
The path starts from the main square of Montaldo Roero, p.za Viglione.
Leaving behind the beautiful and austere parish church of the Annunciation, originally from the 11th century and rebuilt in its current late Romanesque form in the 14th century, and along a short stretch of the provincial road with a view of the eroded and jagged slopes of the Rocca del Serro.
At the signpost, take the short, steep ramp that leads to the church of the Madonna delle Grazie, built in the 1600s on the occasion of the plague.
Behind the church begins the path that following the crest of the Rocca "do Cérlic", with breathtaking views of vertical walls and the castle of Baldissero d 'Alba, crossing tracks of foxes and badgers, reaches a small votive pillar in front of a fountain (point water).
A steep staircase surrounded by wild chestnut trees leads up to the pole at the bottom of the valley, where tall white poplars (“arbrun”) stand out, a legacy of the millenary “Silva Popularis” which once extended throughout the territory.
Here the Rocca attenuates its wild nature to meet the cultivated fields.
Turning left, skirting the Rio della Madonnina, flanked by horsetails and large willows, the path continues at the bottom of the valley among vegetable gardens and hazelnut groves. After about 1 km, it reaches the place called "Nasau", from the ancient name of the hemp macerators that exploited the local presence of small basins for the collection of water (the "bià"). At the "Rocchetta-Costabella" crossroads, a long climb begins on the right, with a very panoramic view of Montaldo Roero, dominated by the imposing watchtower.
We are on the "Costabella", which marks the border between the two municipalities.
Crossing cultivations of plums, hazelnuts, encountering some solitary cherry trees, you reach the vineyards of arneis and nebbiolo in a higher position.
After a false floor with bumps and curves just mentioned, a challenging climb begins, bordered by brambles, Turkish grapes and locust trees, which overcomes the clayey and sandy soils formed with marine sedimentation (Pliocene and Villafranchiano) to reach the most recent sandy deposits. gravelly alluvial origin with reddish hues.
Reached the flat level in the locality of Rocchetta, the path continues through a wood of hackberry (in dialect “favarun”, whose branches were once sought to build the handles of work tools in the fields).
It then passes near the Colonna castle, rebuilt at the end of the 19th century on the site existing from the Middle Ages in the current neo-Gothic forms and ends in the inhabited area of ​​Baldissero at the crossroads with a pole, where you turn right to cross the town on its main street and continue on provincial in the direction of Montaldo Roero.
The territory of Montaldo Roero begins in the locality of "Canemorto".
At the pole on the right, the path continues for a short flat stretch to reach, after a short steep climb, the summit in a place called “Tampette”.
It then continues to the left along the crest of the Rocca, and near the first houses of the village begins the descent to reach the flat up to the pole placed near the Santa Libera pillar.
Continuing to the right on the provincial road and crossing the suggestive bridge stretching over the void between the Rocca del Serro and the diaphragm that divides it from the Rocca "do Cèrlic" (now known as "Ponte dei Sapori"), you return to Piazza Viglione where the excursion ends.