Route placed almost on the border with the nearby Liguria, whose culture can already be felt in the villages it passes through. 

The starting point is the village of Gottasecca, where the ruins of the ancient castle stand, today reduced to a severed tower a few metres away and a piece of the scarp perimeter of the enclosure. The lovely bust of the poet and Risorgimento poet Ravina, he was born here two centuries or so ago, and the main street that descends from the parish church between the houses as far as the provincial road, are all well worth a look.

From the square of the village, skirting the parish church, descend on the paved road that crosses the entire historic centre. Go past the ring road and follow the signs for the shrine, climbing until the last house of the village. The marked route passes behind the house, to the right; after a few metres uphill, turn left and descend gently keeping below the ridge; pass a lovely fountain and a few houses, turn left and reach the paved road again at a bend. Turn right, on the road that descends sharply, to reach the wides spaces that surround the Shrine dell’Assunta di Gottasecca (built in the place of the ancient pieve of Santa Maria di Gudega). It is a lovely example of 17^th century architecture with three naves and eight pilasters on the façade that looks out over the valley with the Pilgrim’s House nearby, to give hospitality and shelter to all travellers. 

It is necessary to go back for a few metres and, instead of climb, proceed on flat ground, to the right, on the dirt trail that is immersed in the wood. A first bend to the left and a subsequent one to the right allow to reach and cross a small stream. Climb to the left at the next junction, close to a meadow and climb towards the crest, on a section of steeper dirt trail and, skirting a few meadows, you return to the wood, rich in oaks. Passed a last section you quickly reach the ridge, where the trail continues flat. The ups and downs follow one another until a marked descent to the left, often muddy. Turn right at a junction and, again on flat ground, you reach a characteristic “saddle”. Continue left, downhill, on a gravel road, to reach, after a few metres of uphill, the paved road at the crossroads known as the “four roads” in which we find a votive aedicule. You need to cross the paved road and, after a few metres to the left, take the trail that climbs in the wood.  A few stony “steps” caused by water erosion make this section more difficult. You reach the crest before long, where you need to follow a wide dirt trail, cutting through the slopes of Bric Baraccone with a slight ascent, until you reach an evident widening. We are here at the far end of Piedmont towards the Ligurian ridge (from Bric Baraccone comes Uzzone). 

Turn right and continue as far as the votive aedicule located upstream from the isolated Cascina Baraccone, in the middle of extensive pastures. Continue on the ridge as far as the paved road and follow it for a few dozen metres, until a bend in the wood. The itinerary, keeping to the crest, continues on the dirt trail to the left, which allows to quickly reach a scenic crossroads, between large croplands. Proceed to the centre, keeping to the watershed, with the dirt trail that, after a short while, plunges back into the wood, to reach, after a steep cobbled section, a more obvious gravel road.Proceed to the right and, having passed the votive aedicule called “della Madonnina”, placed on a characteristic rocky outcrop, continue on flat ground as far as the end of the gravel road, close to several farmhouses. Having reached the paved road go downhill quickly onto the road that, with a few wide bends, leads to the first houses of Saliceto. Turn right at the end of the descent and, on flat ground, skirt the municipal green area. A few metres on you meet the provincial road of Valle Bormida, from which you turn left to reach the town hall square. 

Saliceto is now a delightful village at the bottom of the valley with a Ligurian layout, with a spectacular Renaissance castle built precisely facing the Bormida and some remarkable churches: firstly, the parish church of San Lorenzo, Bramante’s masterpiece, like the cousin church of Roccaverano, whose façade is full of esoteric symbols including a rare Bafometto (that connects it with the legends of the Templars). Then the Oratory of Sant’Agostino, with a rare representation of Saint Francis in the Bormida Valley, in addition to other classical subjects of sacred iconography. Finally, the hidden masterpiece of San Martino in the hamlet of Lignera, in front of which you are left open-mouthed every time, precisely in the same way as travellers and villagers made their pilgrimage through these valleys for centuries in front of these extraordinary 15^th-century frescoes of the nearby Monregalese school. 

Gottasecca : Pieve of Santa Maria , Shrine of Maria Vergine Assunta ,Shrine of Madonna della Neve . Saliceto : Church of San Martino di Lignera , Church of San Lorenzo , Castle of the Marquises of Carretto . Camerana : Medieval Tower .

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