A past of heavy industry now left behind and a present made up of environment, traditions, territory, community. Valbormida, with its strategic position between Piedmont and Liguria, between the Langhe and the Riviera, is a world to be discovered and explored: medieval villages and castles, glass and wood craftsmen, quality agricultural products, the sign of the Napoleonic troops, the frantic sniffing of the truffle dogs, the paths to be followed by bicycle or on foot in the midst of splendid woods..
The gateway to Val Bormida is Altar: the Bocchetta marks the border between the Alps and the Apennines and leads into the small historic centre, enclosed by 19th-century fortifications and embellished with Art Nouveau jewels, including the splendid Villa Rosa, home to the Museo del Glass, Altarese tradition and excellence for centuries. From Altare the provincial road leads to Carcare, which the stream (in this case the Bormida di Pallare) clearly divides between "borgo di qua" and "borgo di là": the historic center develops around via Garibaldi. We are in the middle of the Napoleonic places: here in April 1796 the young general led his troops in a series of decisive battles against the Austrians. On the left side of the Bormida di Spigno stands Cairo Montenotte, a rather well-preserved medieval centre, with its noble palaces, arcades, prison tower, fourteenth-century walls and Porta Soprana. The castle and palace in the heart of the village, where the Ferrania Film Museum is located, are linked to the noble Scarampi family.
From Cairo Montenotte, continuing along the Bormida di Spigno, you meet Dego, which rises in a wide plain rich in water, on the confluence of the Rio Grillero with the Bormida river. In the upper part, perched on the river, the seventeenth-century church of the Annunziata stands out. Among woods, cultivated fields and old farmhouses you arrive at Piana Crixia with its small stone center and the famous "mushroom", a round stone about 4 meters in diameter supported by a column of debris shaped by erosion.
Back in Carcare, two paths can be chosen. Following the Bormida di Pallare you climb towards the Melogno hill, touching Pallare (with the small village of Biestro watching over from above) and then Mallare, a town that had great strategic importance in the Middle Ages: as evidenced by the remains of one of the two castles that protected it, the so-called "Casa del Conte" and two religious buildings of great value such as the sanctuary of Santa Maria dell’Eremita and the former abbey of Santa Maria and San Lazzaro a Fornelli. Going back, all that remains is to go up to Bormida, a small town of medieval origin surrounded by majestic woods of beech and chestnut trees.
Again from Carcare, you go up to Cosseria (with its incredible bicycle museum, created by Luciano Berruti to whom it is dedicated today) and then to Millesimo. City of the truffle, Millesimo is a medieval village with a well-preserved urban fabric. Between the two symbols, the castle above and the Gaietta bridge over the river, the porticoed square where the economic and public life of the town has taken place for eight centuries. Leaving Millesimo towards Murialdo, the landscape changes almost immediately: we are in the wildest part of the valley, the regional natural park of Bric Tana and the Tre Re valley, an area characterized by important karst phenomena which make it one of the most popular parks who loves spelunking. Just before the Sanctuary of the Desert, a detour leads to Osiglia: the large artificial lake, scenically framed by the woods, is a place for sport and relaxation in the summer months.
Following the course of the river, you arrive in Calizzano and – shortly after – in Bardineto: we are less than 20 kilometers from the sea as the crow flies, but the climate and landscape of this area are typically mountainous. Calizzano, an ancient medieval village, was once protected by the castle (of which there are still a few ruins) and enclosed on three sides by a wall. Paths, woods, meadows and streams surround the town: the Barbottina beech forest and the Melogno state forest are considered among the most beautiful in Liguria. A few minutes away is Bardineto, nestled in the vast flat basin which was the scene of one of the battles between the Austrian and French armies during Napoleon’s Italian campaign. Here the products of the forest are the protagonists: fresh air in summer, mushrooms and chestnuts of great quality.
