GTL - Grande Traversata delle Langhe - Stage 3A: Bergolo - Pezzolo Valle Uzzone | Lake Maggiore, Lake Orta, Lake Mergozzo and Ossola Valleys

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Highlights and tour details

One of the many variants of the GTL, with departure from Bergolo to reach the nearby municipalities, making it possible to discover the entire area. This short route, downhill and steep in places, leads to Pezzolo Valle Uzzone, a classic village of Upper Langa.

In Bergolo, our route starts opposite the town hall, taking Via Pezzolo, which, after a first very open section on the Uzzone Valley, enters the wood. It is a steep route that proceeds up the steepest slope of the hillside, practically overhanging the Uzzone.

The Uzzone Valley is the last and most secret of the Langhe valleys. It runs parallel to the vast Bormida Valley, right at the extreme border with Liguria (and then the second Bormida Valley, that of Cairo-Spigno) and starts from the wall of Bric Baraccone at 765 m (beyond, the hamlet of Carretto is already Cairo) where the stream is born which then flows for just 20 km before diving into the Bormida at Cortemilia. Despite its short life, the Uzzone is very impetuous and responsible for many disastrous floods along its course. The Valley is proudly called “Valle della Scienza” (Science Valley) by its residents (and with some irony by others) due to the large number of scholars who were born here. It is very green, silent, fragrant and practically intact. Heavily affected by depopulation in the 20th century, its municipalities have reduced from four to two with the incorporation of Scaletta in Castelletto and the merging of Torre and Gorrino into Pezzolo Valle Uzzone.

Observing this wild panorama, you arrive at a junction, at which you turn right to tackle the last steepest section that takes quickly to the provincial road at the bottom of the valley and to the houses of Pezzolo. Obviously, if travelled uphill, this connection is significantly slower and more difficult.

At Pezzolo Valle Uzzone, the main street is almost the perfect archetype of the fortified village with the houses along the carriageable road, the sandstone portals, the flowery windows and the plaques of those who have brought prestige to this land…in short, fill your nose and eyes with this miraculous village on the meadows of the Uzzone which is your guide to the valley. If you love hermitages, not too far away, in the open countryside, is San Rocco in Carpaneta, the only small church that looks at the river and the fortress above rather than welcoming believers from the road.

Attractions

Bergolo, The Stone Village: Church of San Sebastiano . Pezzolo Valle Uzzone : Shrine of Todocco

Other information

Source: Unione Montana Alta Langa
Itinerary code: GTL
Recommended period: Apr - Nov
Access by public transport: Yes
Classification: Medium and low mountain provincial
Provinces crossed: Langhe Monferrato e Roero