GTL - Grande Traversata delle Langhe - Stage 17: Niella Belbo - San Benedetto Belbo | Lake Maggiore, Lake Orta, Lake Mergozzo and Ossola Valleys

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Highlights and tour details

This stage, which leads to the village so dear to Fenoglio, also coincides with the Bar to Bar route, so pay attention to the signs.

Niella Belbo is a bit of a borderline between the hazelnut and the potato (which is the pride and joy of Mombarcaro), but the cheeses, honey, livestock and ancient cereals should also be remembered which, from here on, tinge the green of the hazelnut groves with blonde. From the centre of the village, continue in the direction of San Benedetto and proceed on a paved road until the junction signposted to the right. Descend, to continue on a dirt track as far as the junction on the left that descends into the valley between the hills and, beyond the ford, climbs back into the wood to take the flat cart track to the left. Take the paved municipal road to the right for the village of Sant’Anna, from where to the left you take the lane along the boundary wall of the first farmhouse, which descends sharply into the next valley between hills. Climb for a hundred metres or so and continue on flat ground to the hamlet of Scaroni. From here, resume the paved road towards the quintessential village of Fenoglio: San Benedetto Belbo.

San Benedetto is a magical timeless place, transported by the transience of human things (the lost castle, the dilapidated houses, the disappeared monastery) to the eternity of the greatest literature, by the shy and solitary genius of Italy’s greatest post-war writer. It is no coincidence that the rare photos in which Beppe Fenoglio is smiling were almost all taken in San Benedetto, him in party dress moving around the square, like an actor on a stage. Because this is all San Benedetto is today: a stage tower in which the writer still and forever moves his characters that are still all there, in those roads and in those houses. Everything here speaks about Fenoglio and Fenoglio always spoke about San Benedetto.

Attractions

Niella Belbo : Chris Bangle's Big Bench , Tower , Medieval Arch known as the "arch of the French". San Benedetto Belbo : Urban Walls , Benedectine Monastery.

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