Alto Tanaro Tour

Among the various artists who decorated churches, houses and shrines, Eugenio Arduino is certainly worth remembering. He left numerous testimonies in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is credited with having painted, among other things, San Martino on the facade of the Parish Church in Ormea.Also the art work of the Pilone delle Caranche, dated 1902 but still fairly well conserved, bears his signature.

A small ethnographic museum has been set up near the church a few years ago, the Museo dei Ricordi, where hundreds of everyday objects from the past decades are on display: tools, furniture, clothes and many other small pieces of memorabilia.

Le biancone, Circaetus gallicus (du grec "kirkos" = falco et "aëtos" = aigle, l'adjectif "gallicus" se réfère à cette région de la France appelée Gallia), est un aigle très spécial. En effet, il se nourrit uniquement de reptiles et en particulier de serpents, qui recherchent les pentes ensoleillées des régions méditerranéennes et des vallées alpines. Sa technique de chasse est également particulière à un aigle, car elle consiste à voler en l'air, dans le vol dit «saint-esprit». Migrant à longue distance, c'est une espèce originaire d'Afrique.

The Chapel of Sant'Erim (Chapel of Sant'Elmo) was built following the saint's apparitions here to groups of shepherds. Tradition has it that a mass was celebrated here every year on the day the cattle went up to the mountain pastures.The Rifugio Selle di Carnino was built from a shepherds hut by the Ligurian Section of the CAI . It was used until the Second World War when it was seriously damaged and definitively abandoned.[A. Parodi, R. Pockaj, A. Costa - Nel cuore delle Alpi Liguri, collana Sentieri e Rifugi, Andrea Parodi Editore, 2012, p.42]

This was an important pass in past ages, probably on one of the salt routes, it was widely used by the shepherds from Briga in their transhumance towards the pastures at the foot of the Marguareis Massif.The place name refers to the "selle", or "cellars" for the preservation of cheeses, once evidently present in the surrounding area. The cellars are generally stone buildings, with a barrel vault, covered and insulated with grass clods to ensure constant temperature and humidity inside.[A. Parodi, R. Pockaj, A. Costa - Nel cuore delle Alpi Liguri, collana Sentieri e Rifugi, Andrea Parodi Editore, 2012, p.34]

The Colle di Nava blockade was built between 1880 and 1888, to prevent transit on the easy pass that connects the Valle Tanaro with the Valle Arroscia. The square had five forts: the Central Fort and the Bellarasco Fort near the pass, the Richermo Fort on the left, the Pozzanghi Fort and the Montescio Fort on the right (at a considerable distance from the other works), as well as a series of semi-permanent field batteries. The armament was small and medium calibre in all the forts.[Le Fortificazioni delle Alpi del Mare, pp.49-50]

Migratory birds make long journeys between nesting sites and wintering sites. Many migratories reach Europe from Africa in March, some using the position of the sun and the mountain ranges as a reference (diurnal migration), and some the moon and stars (nocturnal migration). The return journey takes place in the months of September and October. The Bocchino di Semola is an important passage in the migratory routes that cross the border between Liguria and Piedmont.[On-site information panel, text by Fabiano Sartirana]