Luoghi, attività e idee per vivere la Valsesia.
Discovering the treasures of the Monte Fenera Natural Park


The paleontological and archaeological finds unearthed on Monte Fenera testify to the presence of human settlements in this important prehistoric station since the Paleolithic.
In the central square stands the Parish Church of Santa Maria Assunta and, following the staircase that rises behind the apse, one reaches the Oratory of San Graziano, preceded by the stations of the Via Crucis dating back to the 18th century.
The Church of Santa Maria in Bovagliano, of Romanesque origin, is also of particular interest for the cycle of frescoes from the 15th century by the workshop of Cagnola.
"Temple of fairies, grotto of sirens, favored place of the Sibyls"
Traditional is the Carnevale di Grignasco, whose history dates back to 1895 when the mask of "Giuan Bacèja" appeared.
Giuan Bacèja and his wife Mariana Curbèla are the two characters of the country's carnival and were born from the ironic spirit of a shoemaker-poet named Pinet Turlo, a well-known person in the village and throughout Valsesia, known for his poems in dialect. Even today, on the door where his workshop once stood, a veggia lum (old lamp with wick) is hung, in memory of one of his most beloved poems.
The carnival couple embodies two typical farmers from Bassa Valsesia who wear their best festive clothes and express themselves exclusively in the Grignaschese dialect. Giuan is symbolized by the bacèja: a typical wooden dish used for cleaning rice; while his spouse Mariana is characterized by the curbèla: a woven wicker basket with an unmistakable shape, used by all women as a container for shopping and collecting agricultural products.
In addition to the cultural aspect, the natural aspect is also of great value: venturing into the Monte Fenera Natural Park, directly from Grignasco or from the village of Ara, one can reach the Casa delle Grotte di Ara: a garden within which lies a rock arch, an ancient testimony of a sealed cave, and rock formations of ancient interest. The flow of the Rio Magiaiga through this small karst environment has over time been the destination of water cults and "favored place of the Sibyls". The archaeological findings in the area confirm hypotheses of human presence and fauna from the prehistoric era.
The Fenera Mountain through its temple of the Sibyls
2:45h


