Ambiente, territorio, paesaggio 1. AMBIENTE, TERRITORIO, PAESAGGIO
1.1. Caratteri generali (geologia, geografia, morfologia, clima)
La Provincia di Biella comprende 82 comuni, gran parte dei quali situati in montagna.
Da oriente a occidente troviamo le vallate del Sessera, di Mosso, del Cervo, di Oropa e, all’estremità occidentale, ai confini con la bassa Valle d’Aosta e l’alto Canavese, la Valle Elvo. Sono 15 i comuni di questo ultimo comprensorio e precisamente: Pollone, Sordevolo, Muzzano, Graglia, Netro, Donato, Torrazzo, Sala, Magnano, Zubiena e Zimone (facenti parte Mountain Community Alta Valle Elvo) Occhieppo Upper Occhieppo Bottom, Cambridge, Mongrando (belonging to the Lower Valley Mountain Community Elvo).
The territory of these municipalities covering a range of 15,044 ha, between the high plains of Biella (400 m) and ridges of the Basse Alps (m Mars M 2600) which are the first measurements of the Po Valley and the massive M. Rosa, head of geographic interior valleys (a Walser settlement) as to Gressoney and Alagna.
Elvo
High Valley is bordered to the west and east of the Lys Valley and the Valle di Oropa in Biella.
The ridge that divides the west, from the neighboring valleys, part of the nozzle del Lago (m 2026), sale al Monte Rosso (m 2374) raggiunge il Monte Mars (m 2600), per prolungarsi, passando dal Colle dei Carisey e al Monte Bechit, sino alla Colma di Mombarone (m 2372). Da questo punto, identificato da una grande statua del Cristo Redentore, discende rapidamente sino alle sorgenti del torrente Viona. Questo corso d’acqua dividerà, per un lungo tratto, le province di Biella (Comune di Donato) e Torino (Andrate) e chiuderà, verso occidente, il territorio della Valle.
Il limitare del territorio verso est è dato dalla cresta che dalla Bocchetta del Lago sale al M. Mucrone (m 2335) i cui contrafforti degradano fino al nucleo abitato del Favaro (Comune di Biella), per arrivare fino ai terrazzi Cossila of Biella and the city.
The municipalities of La Serra Torrazzo, Sala, Magnano, Zimone Zubiena and, based on the slope of the hill called Biella "Serra di Ivrea", originating from moraine deposits (left side) of the glacier in the Valle d'Aosta in the Quaternary period.
The hill of the Serra, which reaches a maximum altitude of 850 m (Croceserra), detaches from Mount Mombarone and divide (in the sense ovest-nord-ovest/est-sud-est) separately from the Canavese region Biella up to the medieval town of Monte Salussola from which rapidly decreases until the plains. It is considered, by its considerable length (approximately 20 km), the straight ridge height, moraines, one of the largest in Europe.
Between this hill, considered one of the Sites of Community Importance (SCI) and its counterpart on the right (the moraine on which stand the villages of Seventh Rottaro, Caravino, and Vestignano Borgomasino (Province of Turin), the lake stretches Viverone third basin Piedmont area and an important archaeological site.
Geology
The territory in question has very different geological conditions, because it includes both areas of high mountains, characterized by the presence of metamorphic rocks that have had a long and complex geological history, the hills of the Serra, geologically very young, because they were created in the Quaternary baldric from the glacier.
The northern sector is crossed by a band that stretches from Castellazzo Donato, to the shell, Santuario di Graglia-San Carlo, San grateful Sordevolo, Chiavolino, and is characterized by a series of hills and sheer: this is the visible trace of the Canavese Line, the largest trunk line Insubrica, a long narrow band stretching from the Alps up to Slovenia, bringing together two worlds oldest geological (Paleo-Paleo-Europe and Africa). A
north of this line rises the important mountain itself, gradually pushed upwards dall'orogenesi mountain, still in progress, and partly destroyed by erosion water and gravity.
Department ancient landslides (landslides) develop straddling the Canavese Line, going up to the bas-reliefs and the platforms of Netro, Graglia, Pollone.
The northernmost sector that reaches higher altitudes, is set to metamorphic rocks (mica) with presence around the Mount and the Mount Mucrone Mars, ancient metamorphosed granites.
The findings of the central strip of territory, which is clearly bounded on the east by Bric Burcina, are mainly composed of diorite, which they blame on the characteristic plateaus Graglia-Muzzano Sordevolo-Pollone.
entirely different condition of the southern sector, consisting from the moraine of the Serra, entirely made up of deposits left by the glacier in the Valle d'Aosta in its end, where several ice ages have gradually built an impressive series of morainic (at least seven major), which from Lace Donato Sala and Torrazzo to dilate progressively.
The geological information is taken from the publication "Atlas Valley Elvo" (Annex A) which are also given in the form of mapping relative ease of reading. The 6 thematic maps that make up the file, covering the following topics: the municipalities, the elevation el'orografia, geology, land forms, water resources, hydrogeological risk.
Morphology
Geological history, morphology and land use by humans in the Valley Elvo are closely related.
The geomorphological context that distinguishes the High Elvo is that of "landslides", which grow on the slopes of Brich straw, the Truc Buscaiun and M. Send forming large grassland morphology sweet, rich and stagnant spring emergencies. United factors anthropological, cultural and historical, these conditions have encouraged the creation, development of agro-pastoral that still has great relevance in the area.
The lower band of territory between Netro Graglia-and-Sordevolo Pollone a quote inferiori a 600 metri è invece contrassegnata dai “pianalti”, superfici alluvionali regolari (a sud di Muzzano) o stretti lembi di altopiano separati da profonde incisioni, con locali culminazioni (Merletto, Cuchello): in queste aree risultano concentrati i principali abitati del settore orientale della Comunità Montana.
L’ambito morfologico unitario di maggiore estensione è dato dai rilievi morenici della Serra, formati da una serie di dorsali che si staccano progressivamente tra di loro a monte di Torrazzo e Sala, separate da strette e lunghe vallecole a fondo piatto (Magnano e Zimone). Mentre le dorsali sono occupate dal bosco (ceduo o di impianto artificiale), le vallecole erano la sede dei seminativi, over time largely abandoned.
The northern sector of the mountain community is instead characterized by an environment of high mountains, with sharp relief prevail where the walls and sticky rock and scree, which culminates with the Mombarone the Mucrone and Mars (2600 m, maximum elevation Biella).
Special situations, really very interesting but less extensive, may be summarized thus:
- sheer and tectonic culminations characterize the presence of the Canavese Line (Poggio Castellazzo, Montini, Castellazzo of Netro, Bossola, San Carlo, Graglia Sanctuary, San grateful Burcina). This band, between 800 and 1000 meters, is another element of the rather peculiar Valle Elvo;
- le tracce lasciate dai ghiacciai che si formavano sulle montagne biellesi, sono molto evidenti nei circhi glaciali alla testata della Valle dell’Elvo e dei torrenti Lace, Ianca e Viona. Ripide pareti circondano le conche, dove grandi rocce levigate si alternano a ripiani ed a piccoli laghi;
- il versante a meridione di Zimone, che ricade nel bacino canavesano, presenta esposizione a Sud-Ovest e condizione climatica particolare, favorevole alla coltivazione della vite sui ripidi versanti terrazzati artificialmente.
Rilevanti sono anche le tracce dell’azione delle acque sul territorio:
- profonde gole rocciose caratterizzano il percorso dei torrenti Elvo e Ianca, con nette incisioni ed ambiente molto aspro tra Sordevolo and Bagneri;
- the glacier creating Balteo Serra has blocked and diverted the stream Viona, directing its lower path between two moraine ridges. It therefore has the narrow valley along which develops Highway 419;
- Ingagna the reservoir on the stream, while falling only partially within the mountain community, is in a central position and is the major impact of human intervention. The
Elvo
The main stream, which gives its name to the valley, the stream is Elvo, whose sources are at the foot of Mount Mars.
cut deep into the territory, so as to give rise to the ravines and Infernetto dell'Infernone, di notevole interesse geologico, naturalistico e sportivo, divide gli abitati di Sordevolo e Muzzano, scende a Occhieppo, entra nell’alta pianura biellese e, nei pressi di Collobiano (VC), confluisce nel torrente Cervo. La lunghezza totale del corso d’acqua è di 50 km circa e, di questi, 14 si svolgono nel suo tratto propriamente montano.
Il Tracciolino (Panoramica Oropa-Andrate)
Tra lo spartiacque che corre, come abbiamo visto, attorno ai 2300 m s.l.m., e gli abitati principali dei Comuni di Pollone, Sordevolo, Muzzano, Graglia, Netro e Donato, posti ad altezze comprese tra 600 e 800 m, corre la Strada provinciale n. 512, detta Tracciolino o Panoramica Oropa-Andrate.
Questa strada, partendo next to the Sanctuary of Oropa, covers the entire valley at an altitude between 900 and 1200 m. Closes its path to the bridge over the river Viona, in the neighborhood of Andrate. Over the past 25 years, "Tracciolino", built on several occasions from the 50s onwards, has joined the ranks of the provincial road, the first management in the Province of Vercelli, and that of Biella.
The need for vehicular traffic, particularly for the development of agricultural mechanization has meant that the road became, over time, a major arrival point for the minor road that climbs from the countries of departure and place for the slopes that rise to the pastures. The course of the road, which develops substantially halfway along the contour lines and no particular slope, divide the area of \u200b\u200bforests and farms in average height from the alpine pastures, used by many local herds of Alpine pasture through the summer. The climate
The average monthly temperatures typically have a pattern "bell", with minimum and maximum in January and July.
The total precipitation is important, among the highest in the Western Alps, and characterized by a regime with equinoctial time peak in May.
The dry season is typically winter, with low rainfall in January, followed by a relatively dry summer.
The temperature gradient decreases with height above sea level on a continuous basis, while the precipitation increases with altitude up to about 1100-1500 m, are downloading (area of \u200b\u200bthe beech tree that characterizes the local woods) and decreases from this limit in then (the zone of larch, virtually absent here).
The wind is very limited and characterized by geographic location south of the high Alps, that the repairs by strong winds.
Especially in winter is important and recurring situation of the Stau-Phoebe: humid air masses, driven by winds Atlantic to the Alps, rise, cool, fall in the Franco-Swiss slopes, are free of moisture, rapidly descend compressing and heating the Italian side. It originated as wind velocity, warm and dry, in substantial absence of moisture in the air and water in the soil (at least annual precipitation in the form of water ice in the soil) and facilitate the mitigation of temperature, the melting snows of early and the spread of forest fires in winter.
1.2. Natural features
Wildlife
In terms of wildlife, the Valley and Serra Elvo not particularly endemic species.
We find here the same animal species typical of other alpine areas: deer, wild boar, wild rabbit, hare, marmot, weasel, ermine, marten, badger, fox, squirrel, hedgehog.
The flora of mountain meadows
In the pastures of the "Alps" of the Valley Elvo there is a prevalence of grasses covering the pastures for at least 75%, followed by pulses with percentages varying between 10 and 15%, while in Overall, other families do not exceed 10%.
The ancient practice of "slave" leads to a clear difference in species composition between areas and areas not reached by irrigation under this practice. We are in the presence of
Festuceti that, on the most degraded in Nardeti evolve. The festuceti Elvo Valley are dominated by Festuca rubra, has a fair value of forage species. It is accompanied by other species of stesso genere, quale soprattutto la Festuca ovina e altre festuche. Localizzate in aree di modeste dimensioni, interessate dalla fertirrigazione, troviamo il Phleum pratense, il Phleum alpinum, il Trisetum flavescens, la Dactylis glomerata, tutte buone foraggere, piuttosto esigenti in elementi azotati.
Alle graminacee, seguono, in ordine di importanza, le leguminose, rappresentate soprattutto da Trifolium pratense (trifoglio violetto), Trifolium repens (trifoglio bianco) e, oltre i 1.500 m di altitudine, da Trifolium alpinum (trifoglio alpino). In scarsa quantità troviamo il Lotus cornicolatus (ginestrino). Le leguminose, per i loro apporti di azoto e la loro elevata pascolabilità, sono tutte ottime foraggere.
Le altre families are represented by good fodder as the Compositae and Rosaceae, and little or no forage as Gentianaceae, the Ciperaceae the Liliaceae. Many problems arise when
to infest the pasture is the Nardus stricta (Nardi, Matterhorn), this is a large grass with great adaptability and ecological limits, used by cattle only in the juvenile stage and then declined because hard and sharp. It is present in most pastures and becomes dominant in areas where the mismanagement of grazing cattle overload, excessive slope, have resulted in significant depletion of soil. The plant association that sees a strong predominance of Matterhorn is called nardeto.
Bushes are represented by Ericaeae, such as Calluna vulgaris (heather, brùu), Vaccinium sp. (Blueberry, Bruson), Rhododendron ferrugineum (rhododendron, ratìi), Alnus viridis (green alder, ell). They have a useful function on steeper slopes (and therefore potentially unstable), where they contribute to strengthening and especially for protecting the slopes from erosion, rhododendron and alder also serve to provide firewood, in the highest regions, domestic and cooking the curd. The Bushes develops in those areas of pasture that is not considered useful to exploit, but as these tend to spread and in no small measure to reduce the forage area is considered harmful and to fight. One of the most effective, but also the most dangerous and difficult to manage, is the current focus Burning (agronomically a kind of must): the fire can move into the forest and the buildings and in any case destroys a potential source of humus, however, enriching the soil salts that raise the pH (parts hydrogen) to levels not too far from the optimum (6.5 / 7).
Among the competing species, not reported above, it should be noted a Pteridophytes: the ferns (Pteris aquiline mainly): a strong presence in the valley, has become, for its spread, the most important pest. In some cases, is mowing, dried and used as litter in stables ordered to average height: one can still see sheaves (Meie) where this species is preserved for the winter: on a base of large branches, slightly raised above ground level, is placed a vertical pole around which , in an orderly, well-trampled layers are placed with ferns. The sheaf is used, cut vertically, with a special tool with a blade and footrest.
Forests The forests of the Valley Elvo of human suffering that, in times past has favored the breeding of livestock for growing forests (cites an old proverb: Valsesiana Buscarini, Bieleis Margo - Valsesian forest workers, Biella farmers).
The upper limit of the forest is around 1200-1300 m above sea level, well below the share that could potentially occupy.
ancient forest areas are reserved to the most rugged and steep or more bands around the waterways. This grassland-pasture, or grazing areas morphologically less difficult. From WWII to today the situation is less clear, because large areas have been abandoned, colonized by pioneer species (birch, aspen, hazel), which are enriched in species of shrubs and trees, is interesting from the standpoint of biodiversity, that the stability of stands.
The civilization of the chestnut trees chestnut, which provided that the species as "bread tree" and of life, has left some traces in the Valley.
The chestnut (Arbu), now completely abandoned, had a low plant density on the surface, this to allow mowing, grazing, collection of fruits and leaves. These areas today have been filled by various hardwoods such as birch (biula), the aspen, and a lower odds, the black locust (gasìa). Sometimes this process has been facilitated by the passage of fire.
In other cases, the typical pioneer species, have given way to so-called "noble hardwoods (with this definition means typically maple, frassini, tigli, ciliegi e, per estensione, anche querce e faggi), in particolare faggio e rovere. Sono questi i boschi più “ricchi” e con più futuro. Nei casi peggiori la colonizzazione delle aree aperte e’ dovuta a nocciolo e rovo, situazione che rende i boschi meno importanti, sia dal punto di vista turistico-ricreativo – difficilmente percorribili e “arruffati”-, che da quello della produzione di legno.
Le faggete
Il faggio (fò) caratterizza le foreste al di sopra del Tracciolino; riesce a vivere anche in terreni poveri di sostanza organica e sassosi: tecnicamente si chiama faggeta oligotrofica (poco alimento).
Il faggio (come il castagno e in misura minore di questo) è in grado di riprodursi con i semi (faggiole) o per via vegetativa: se lo si taglia emette polloni dalla ceppaia e origina boschi detti cedui. Tecnicamente, quando si decide di tagliare un bosco ceduo, si rilasciano piante madri che produrranno seme per perpetuare le ceppaie: le cosiddette matricine (gran parte delle faggete della Valle Elvo sono “cedui matricinati”). In condizioni di scarsa concorrenza i polloni possono “affrancarsi” dalla ceppaia, emettendo radici proprie, e assumendo l’aspetto di piante nate dalla faggiola.
Nelle zone che guardano a nord, dove la neve permane molto tempo, il peso di questa alla base delle piante, fa sì che i tronchi prendano un aspetto particolare, leggermente curved saber.
Where the conditions of fertility are not too poor, to accompany the beech can be found birch, maple, ash and rowan tree. Under the canopy often dominates the cranberry, and raspberry are often in clearings (ampule) to lord it. In both cases, the height of summer, hikers can enjoy, free, juicy fruit and certainly healthy in every respect.
The low fertility is reflected in the behavior of plants that have slow growth, short stature and very branching. Other woods
Near the rivers and on the rare fertile areas we can find rich hardwood forests noble as the maple, linden and ash, it is difficult, however, that significant form surfaces.
Always close to the waters are peoples, even of considerable size, having as main species the black alder (ell), a relative of that tree and shrub species, already mentioned in the mountain meadows, called green alder.
Trees and bushes are different form: in the branches of trees and branches arise from the trunk, the branches start in the bushes from the ground. With human intervention can become bushes trees (coppice), while the bushes - for repeated interventions cesori - may take issue with tree (the olive tree is botanically a bush, such as pink).
in pastures and meadows and pastures abandoned the birch trees have a good life, to be characteristic of colonizing species and preparation of the natural forest. They form almost pure woods, bright, stylish - the crown of the birch is not very dense - clean, that characterize the landscape. With birch lives and produces its beautiful red berries - an irresistible attraction for the birds - the rowan tree (Tumelo). Under these populations are often found grazing for cattle and sheep and goats. The invasion of birch forests are intended, unless human intervention, to accommodate gradually, and in relation to the fertility of the place, more stable and long-lived species that will restore the natural forest in harmony with the environment (technically climax forest).
Over the past 60-70 years, assistance and advice Forestry Authority, have favored the introduction in the Valley Elvo of conifers, especially spruce and larch. The most important areas, upstream and downstream of Tracciolino, are in Pollone (Botto and pine Frassati) and Netro (Valgiame). From the point of view not strictly forest, the use of evergreen conifers (spruce, white pine, Douglas fir), brings a bright note in the landscape, because the green spot in winter, emerges and makes it less monotonous environment. Conifers, in some cases, prove to have perfectly set in the valley at the point of renewal spontaneously.
1.3. History, traditions and local culture
SPIRITUALITY
Several shrines sacred to popular religious sites, are scattered along the area of \u200b\u200bthe Alpine region from Serra Biella that extends to the Valsessera.
The Valley has always attracted Elvo important expressions of religiosity: Graglia Sanctuary dedicated to Our Lady of Loreto, the biggest in the Biella after Oropa and center of religious life of the valley, the Sacred Representation Sordevolo see that for two centuries a whole country involved in the staging of the Passion of Christ, and the modern Buddhist monastery located Mandala Samten Ling lungo la strada che dal Santuario porta alla Bossola e che vuole essere un punto di meditazione e raccoglimento non solo per i seguaci del buddismo tibetano. La stessa filosofia sta alla base della comunità monastica di Bose a Magnano, nella Serra.
La strada panoramica del Tracciolino passando tra i Comuni di Pollone, Sordevolo, Muzzano, Graglia, Netro e Donato unisce non solo idealmente i due maggiori santuari biellesi, toccando un territorio ricco di arte e tradizione e il cui centro ideale è il complesso del Santuario di Graglia.
DONATO
Situato in collina ai piedi del Mombarone, si trova ai limiti occidentali del territorio biellese.
E’ un piccolo borgo dalle caratteristiche fontane, i lavatoi e i piloni votivi, rich in vegetation and climate in the summer.
the characteristic pastures (apparently, Stoves, Cavanna, GRE, Ghiazzetti, Moglioni) on the view from Monte Viso in Novara and has an overall view of the Serra moraine.
There stands the parish church of SS. Peter and Paul of the eighteenth century. Lugano is located in the hamlet of the oratory of SS. Bernardo and grateful with the baroque facade of brick embellished with niches and pilasters.
NETRA
to its strategic location and high, since the time of the Celts was chosen as a defensive stronghold.
Within the cemetery stands the Romanesque church of the Assumption, a short distance, at the center of the country, the parish church of the nineteenth century, a few steps away, the elegant oratorio barocco di S. Rocco, edificato come ex voto in seguito all’epidemia di peste del 1599.
Caratterizzata da un’economia prevalentemente rurale, Netro vanta una millenaria tradizione nella lavorazione del ferro sia artigianale che industriale.
Chiesa di S. Maria Assunta
Attualmente situata nel cimitero di Netro, la chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta è uno degli esempi più belli di romanico nel Biellese.
Dalla facciata e dai muri si può dedurre che originariamente la chiesa doveva essere a navata unica e nel complesso piuttosto piccola. Il periodo più probabile di questa primitiva costruzione, non documentabile da fonti scritte, è la prima metà del secolo XI, mentre l’innalzamento e l’ampliamento were made between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries. This second phase of construction enlarged the building with three naves, culminating in semi-circular apses and divided into three bays by brick columns sorreggenti round arches. The gabled roof was made of two layers and the stone facade is built of brownish red and pale green with pebbles available with almost uniform herringbone, and culminates in a traditional bell tower. The central door, two side doors architrave, is framed by a sheet bounded on top by two sets of hanging arches and a terminal oculo. Two small pilasters, at the door and aligned with the upper oculus, enclose a niche in which the souls in purgatory are depicted in a style that probably dates back to the period of the last renovation and dell'intonacatura building (XVIII century). Inside the wall and the apse we see a cycle of frescoes of the first four hundred with Christ in almond, the symbols of the Evangelists and the Apostles, attributed to Pseudo Domenico March of Ancona.
GRAGLIA
Graglia covers a vast territory reaching the consolation of Mombarone where the monument to Christ the Savior, rebuilt by the Pro Loco in 1991 on the ruins of the former, built in 1901 and destroyed by lightning in 1948, dominates the summit in 2372 m
tourist areas Thanks to its location, its architectural quality of its surroundings and the presence of the Shrine of Our Lady of Loreto, Graglia plays a significant role for dairy and breeding cattle and sheep.
the center of the village is the parish church of St. Faith, which houses a painting by Mauro Piccinardi. There were also the Church of S. Cross rebuilt in the '600, where they worked, the painter Giovanni Antonio and Francesco Zamorra Genta. The procession of hooded
held on the evening of Good Friday is one of the deepest traditions.
The Sacred Mountain and the Church of S. Carlo
the early seventeenth century, the parish priest of Graglia, Don Nicholas Velotti, in imitation of what he had done a century before Caimi the Sacred Mountain of Varallo, he thought of turning the nearby Hill of S. Charles in a "Heavenly Jerusalem" as much as 100 chapels, each of which contains life-size sculptures representing the sacred history from Adam and Eve to the Resurrection of Jesus
In the grand scheme devised by the pastor we have an album of ancient drawings in ink watercolor represent the set of architectural design with the exemplification of some chapels and accompanied by some papers that explain the symbolism of the complex. The work of this great project, begun in 1616, suffered numerous delays because of economic difficulties, especially after the death of its creator Don Velotti, which took place in 1626. The successor prefers to fall back on a less ambitious project which sees the creation of the sanctuary in the region Campra, also abandoned the project soon. The original complex was built on the hill, which offers a magnificent view, the church dedicated to St. Charles was to be the heart of the "Heavenly Jerusalem". It was built where it may already exist in the church of Our no documentation has been no trace. Only some of the hundred chapels were built and adorned with sculptures of the brothers Henry D'Varallo and Nicola Tabacchetti and their remains are still visible along the path from S. Carlo leads to the sanctuary of Graglia. The church of St.
Charles was to be only one of the chapels of the Sacro Monte in the group with a sculptural work of Tabacchetti precisely depicting the Deposition, the Madonna between SS. Carlo Borromeo, Thankful and Blessed Amedeo of Savoy, co-owners of the Church. The group is, unfortunately, destroyed the last world war. Is in the background, the church is the faithful who remained neglected by the directors and in 1661 it still had no time and the walls are not plastered. The building was demolished mutilated and shortened the nave and leading to the disappearance of the underground chapels. Along with these was also destroyed one of the Magdalene, which stood sulla sommità di un’altura. Nel 1668 fu costruita nei pressi del serbatoio dell’acqua la cappella della Samaritana anch’essa demolita nella prima metà del ‘900. Tuttora la facciata di S. Carlo risulta incompiuta e si presenta come un muro sorretto da quattro pesanti contrafforti; ha una campanella collocata su un piccolo campanile a vela rifatto nel 1991 perché pericolante come il tetto della chiesa.
All’interno si segnalano un gruppo marmoreo ad altezza naturale raffigurante S. Carlo Borromeo davanti al sacello di Cristo, l’altare maggiore con i dipinti e la prospettiva dei pittori Aureggio e Genta e le decorazioni di G. Maffei. Attualmente vi si celebra la messa solo in occasione della festa che si svolge nel mese of July.
The Basilica of Our Lady of Loreto
In 1655, at the idea of \u200b\u200bAugustine parish priest of the well, it was decided to raise a grand temple on the hill with adjoining shelter of the Divine Goodness, to 812 m, on which already stood a chapel dedicated to the Virgin of the Annunciation part of the Sacro Monte, built in 1617 and that reproduced the Holy House of Loreto.
The blessing of the cornerstone took place on September 20, 1659, but due to the disastrous wars of that time, the project engineer Arduzzi, although strongly supported by Charles Emmanuel of Savoy suffered long breaks. Was revived in 1760 thanks to the parish priest Don Carlo Gastaldi who commissioned the architect Bernardo Vittone a reformulation the project. Within a few years he bought the property is its present appearance, with a Greek cross of 42 m. to 32 m. culminating in an octagonal dome 38 meters high from the ground.
In the structure of the basilica built four chapels. Built between 1664 and 1684, are dedicated to the Birth of Christ and the Adoration of the Magi, with statues in polychrome statuary work of Frank Wells and the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple and the Circumcision, with works of statuary and Charles Pagano painter Prospero Antonio plaque, author of the paintings that adorn the walls.
At the time of the French Revolution, the sanctuary of Graglia was considered by utilities and submitted to a committee of charities that converted it into a boarding college. With the return in Turin the King Vittorio Emanuele I, the shrine was relocated to its original nature as a place of faith and devotion.
Work also continued on the outside with the addition in 1840 of a third floor to the facility for the reception of pilgrims and tracking the walk around the Sanctuary. In 1887 he completed it south-east front of the building, one that appears in all its majesty in the eyes of pilgrims arriving in 1906 and built the present place for a coffee - restaurant. Finally in the '30s was built the present garden of the Virgin Mary, which is characterized by "Burnell" in stone in imitation of that of Oropa and S. John of Andorno.
It houses the magnificent organ of 1839 by the master of Bergamo Bossi high altar designed by gragliese Perratone and carved in marble by the master Catella Lugano. The splendid view of the octagonal dome was decorated in 1870 by Fabrizio Galliari and paintings of St. Joseph are the work of the painter in Bergamo Picinardi executed in 1875. The Chapel of the Good Home exercises or on the first floor is filled with frescoes of the seventeenth century.
Lastly, the Library of the Shrine, filled with 20,000 books with pieces of the seventeenth century, and some unique pieces: the "sixteenth century". Among the works on an issue almost complete the work of St. Thomas and a text of the sixteenth century. which describes with wonderful maps, the Holy Land, according to the knowledge era.
Church of Our Lady of the Snows
The history of the Church of Our Lady of the Snows, which is located on the plateau of Campra, to the left of the road from the town center to the Sanctuary, is tied to the completion of the Sacro Monte di Graglia. In fact Don Garre, who succeeded Don Velotti, whereas S. Carlo uncomfortable in the winter, had identified in Campra the ideal place to realize the center of the sanctuary and you rise to a college for priests. The draft Garrano
Don was soon abandoned in favor of the church today and the seminar was never completed, but the church was built between 1624 and 1629 has always been known to "worship" of Gragliesi as evidenced by the numerous ex voto for the graces received from Madonna.
The church was originally presented with only one altar surmounted by a painting of the Madonna, with the sacristy with more room and a porch. In 1778 the tower was built in Biella typical brick in the Baroque style, comparable to the Baroque bell towers of S. Elizabeth and S. Antonio Abate Occhieppo Superior.
The present building was rebuilt in the early nineteenth designed by Andrea Zanetti, has built the walls of the previous building and has a Greek cross plan. The facade partially frescoes by Giovanni Paolo gragliese Crida while the interior has a nave with decorated walls and ceilings by Vincenzo Zanetti and a marble altar, the work of James Bottinelli topped with an altarpiece painting of the Madonna surrounded by clouds, rays and cherubs in gilt wood.
August 5 is the feast of Our Lady of the Snow Mass seguitissima 4.30 and the rural festival which lasts eight days. Curiosity
Along the path that leads from the sanctuary of Graglia S. Charles, just behind the Grand Hotel, takes place, the phenomenon of acoustic echo hendecasyllable. This phenomenon, already known to scholars of the eighteenth century, is the perfect voice output of the word shouted in the direction of the Sanctuary. It is said hendecasyllable because, under certain conditions, can play a word of which eleven syllables.
MUZZI
Cosy country full of villas and gardens with trees and vantage points, is developed by Mount Cuchello (612 m) towards the mountains, where it includes the village of Bagneri (see the "Tradition") and the broad pastures of Salvini.
Beside the eighteenth century parish church dedicated to St. Eusebio which preserves the traces of an ancient Romanesque bell tower, stands the baroque Church of St. Cross.
A hike to reach the village and above the alpine pastures of Bagneri Salvini, and you can immerse yourself in the traditions and culture the mountain and enjoy a beautiful view of the Biellese.
Sordevolo
The reputation of this country is certainly linked to the Representation of the Sacred Passion of the Christ that is celebrated every five years.
Full of examples of industrial archeology Sordevolo combines the presence of some of the oldest settlements in textile production, with life on the alp. The seventeenth-century parish church of St.
Ambrose holds a beautiful altar and eighteenth-century wooden sculptures.
To note the baroque oratory of S. Martha and the Church of S. Maria delle Grazie in Verdobbio and village on the hill above the town, the oratory of S. Grateful. From the junction
S. Grateful that there is a path in 1 h and leads to about 30 Trappe, an imposing stone building, across the street from Tracciolino.
Oratory of S. Grateful
Built in the mid-seventeenth century and dedicated to St. Grateful to invoke protection against storms and hail, sits on the hill of the same name, the goal of frequent walks was also celebrated by famous people such as Carducci and playful. Guarded by a hermit, already threatened to ruin in 1661 and in 1678 they started the restoration and expansion. Between 1724 and 1728 saw further changes in the oratory: the bell tower was rebuilt for the third time and completed the front porch as it is still visible.
Inside, behind the main altar, is kept the painted wooden statue of the patron saint by the second half of the seventeenth century, while above the side altar dedicated to SS. Antonio Bernardo and has set a canvas painted in 1699 by Giacomo Antonio Vercelli Bergonzi.
POLLONE
The origins of the country are very old, as evidenced by the findings dating from the Bronze Age and Iron Age.
famous resort frequented by intellectuals and cultural figures such as Benedetto Croce, Pollone gave birth to famous people such as the painter Lorenzo Delleani, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati explorer Alberto Maria De Agostini.
Among the religious buildings stand the church of S. Eusebius and the church front of the Trinity with frescoes by L. Delleani and, inside, a painting by Francesco Zamorra.
The country is full of speakers, including that of S. Maria delle Grazie (1606), the seventeenth-century SS. Oratory of St. Fabian and Sebastian Barnabas.
next to the town, the Special Nature Reserve Burcina.
Oratory of S. Barnabas
Located ten minutes from the town center, in Piano, the oratory is located on a hill once known as Mount Castellazzo, perhaps on the foundations of a medieval castle. Wanted by the parish priest Don Agostino De Ferraris in 1606 is still under construction. Above the altar there is an inscription certifying that the building was rebuilt by the community following a public vote, most likely to invoke protection against the hail of 1662. The oratory has retained its seventeenth-century structure with a single nave covered with painted brick supported by massive trusses. It is surrounded on three sides by a distinctive portico and on the left side rises the bell tower. Workers custody were hermits whose house was retained for the duration of their residence near the church and then demolished.
The building is currently owned by the town that has built around the Park of Remembrance. Restored a few decades ago it was painted in 1955 by Nina Tavallini. This oratorio è diventato l’emblema di Pollone: dipinto dal pittore Lorenzo Delleani che lo ricorda nelle sue tele con le paesane che entrano nella chiesetta o ne escono avvolte nel tradizionale velo bianco (il dipinto è custodito nel Municipio di Pollone).
LA CULTURA LOCALE
L’eterogeneità del territorio della Valle Elvo e la sua antica storia si riflettono sulle molteplici tradizioni legate ai saperi e ai prodotti di tali saperi: attività più tradizionali legate agli alpeggi, quali l’allevamento del bestiame e la produzione della toma, convivono accanto alla ricerca dell’oro e alla lavorazione del ferro, attività millenarie capaci di plasmare il paesaggio e il carattere di una comunità.
The
ELVO VALLEY MUSEUM AND GREENHOUSE
Founded in 1998 by a group of people who shared an interest and passion to a place, its history and its traditions, the Ecomuseum Elvo Valley and Serra offers a path of cultural revival, social and economic based on the direct participation of the population for active protection of its tangible and intangible heritage.
the territory geographically defined by the course of the river and Elvo moraine hill of Serra, activities ecomuseum interwoven with that memory of the inhabitants of the places that were created and witnesses said. Alternating
research and action, the protagonists ecomuseum recover the sense of re-cognition: competence in reading the landscape where they live and an exercise through which regain the right to continue with consistency in his own time.
generating new relations of trust between people, new functional relationships between their assets and resources of the territory, new patterns of production and consumption, the experience of living is the focus of several initiatives for the conservation, interpretation and management heritage, in which the community identifies the traces of its past and the lines of its future. The issues investigated
Ecomuseo Elvo Valley and Serra (listed below in parentheses) are highlighted along some routes that link the individual experiences of places the collective practices of the area, the perception of landscapes and their transformations.
Two paths branch off the main-landscapes ideally Donato (Documentation Centre on Migration), "gateway" to the Valley Elvo Valle d'Aosta and the Canavese:
- east of Donato, along the Strada Provinciale del Tracciolino, meet the Sacro Monte di Graglia (popular religion), the township of Bagneri (mountain culture), the Monastery of La Trappe in Sordevolo (building tradition);
- south of the site to meet Donald Hall (Resistance), to Vermogno (for gold), of Zimone (agricultural landscape). A third path-
landscape between the Forge of Mongrando Morino (iron processing) and workshops Netro (Documentation Center on the working of iron), is strongly characterized by the widespread presence of large and small artifacts witnesses of business first and then craft industry, favored by morphology and by the watercourses dell'Ingagna.
5 thematic cells Elvo Eco Valley and Serra are part of the network ecomuseum Biella, recognized by the Piedmont Region in 2000:
Cell Bagneri (Muzzano) - A mountain culture
900 meters in the town of Muzzano, the township Bagneri testifies to the work of generations of mountaineers that slowly transformed the environment original. The Association of Friends of
Bagneri is committed to maintain this small community with actions in support of the few inhabitants, tying the recovery of the old woodwork in the birth of a new craft through which awaken a competence on the meaning and use of simple objects produced by the mountain culture. Cell
the Trappist monastery of Sordevolo - Built by the family building tradition
Ambrosetti after the middle of the eighteenth century to 1000 meters, the Trappist monastery of Sordevolo is so called because it was home for six years, a congregation of Trappist monks fleeing the French Revolution.
The Association of linking the Trappe research into the origins dell'edificio e sulle tecniche impiegate nella sua costruzione ad azioni di tutela attiva del paesaggio dell’Alta Valle Elvo, definendo nuovi percorsi per il recupero dell'identità dell'architettura rurale e dei suoi attuali utilizzatori.
Cellula di Vermogno (Zubiena)- Ricerca dell’oro
Vermogno, frazione del Comune di Zubiena, si trova al centro della Bessa, dov'erano collocate le grandi aurifodine di età romana attive tra il II e il I secolo a.C.: un paesaggio artificiale dominato da enormi cumuli di ciottoli accatastati per selezionare il materiale ricco di oro alluvionale.
Nel Museo dell’Oro e della Bessa l’Associazione Biellese Cercatori d'Oro raccoglie e documenta le tecniche manuali impiegate in the search for gold-bearing ages, accompanying visitors to the archaeological and nature tours.
Cell Officine of Netro - manufacture of iron and Netro
Among Mongrando along the wadi Ingagna at the end of the sixteenth century were planted the first production units for the manufacture of iron.
The Documentation Centre of Netro, where such activity had the greatest industrial development, are collected set of tools produced by Officine Ruby next to drawings, samples, technical manuals and machines that bear witness to the evolution of systems of work and allow you to tie them to the local practices of the regions which they were intended.
Cell Forge Morino of Mongrando - Working iron
Along the way thematic linking to Netro Mongrando are the remains of some functional structures whose name, "forge" or "jack", identified both the tools of the same buildings that supported them .
latest example of small production units that constituted the main activity of the inhabitants of Mongrando before the development of the canvases the Smithy Morino it houses all the machinery and tools used before the development industry.
1.4. Anthropic aspects (settlements, the local economy)
The Simmental Oropa
Elvo Valley is the cradle of the breed Simmental Oropa, an ancient native type (According to modern classification, part of the group of "Red, Yellow and Pied Mountain Breeds of Central and Eastern Europe and Charolais). It is a typical dual purpose animal, milk and meat, suitable for food and frugal driving in difficult terrain to slope and rocky. It has strong legs and almost perfect aplomb, and its milk production averaged about 25 q in 305 days in milk (8.2 liters / day), but power is based mainly on grazing and forage value of medium value. Adequately nourished his productions easily climb up to twice the data described.
Milk quality is good, with mean titres of 3.7 fat % And 3.5% in protein, especially suitable for the production of typical cheeses Biella: toma and Macclesfield.
The meat production is concentrated in discrete attitude fattening calves males and females over the quota of replacement cows.
calves, after 3-4 weeks of life, are sold to grease the plains. In recent years, by the Upper and Lower Valley Mountain Communities Elvo, are experimenting with breeding techniques, feeding and marketing to enable local farmers to produce fattened animals (up to 500-600 kg), maintaining on-site the added value of beef production. The
Simmental Oropa ha grande importanza, nella zona montana, per la sua lunga carriera produttiva e riproduttiva (rispetto alle razze specializzate e cosmopolite) e la relativa regolarità nei parti, caratteristiche favorite dalla vita all’aria aperta, dal movimento e dall’alimentazione non spinta.
La Razza pezzata Rossa Oropa è stata inserita dalla F.A.O. (Food and Agricoltural Organisation of United Nations) nell'elenco mondiale delle razze in pericolo di estinzione, in modo da garantire il suo patrimonio genetico e tutelare la biodiversità, a livello mondiale, nella specie bovina.
È presente in più di 450 allevamenti, fuori e dentro la Valle Elvo, con un patrimonio complessivo di circa 7.800 capi (vacche, giovenche e giovani). The Breeders Association of Biella and Vercelli held since 1979, production controls and manages delegated by the AIA (Italian Breeders Association) Anagraphic the registry of the breed, organizing morphological evaluations and treating the inclusion of data for cows enrolled (approximately 3,500 cows) with a special management software. The peculiarity of the Simmental
Oropa and the need to preserve the unique genetic heritage led the Piedmont Region (at the request of 'AIA and APA of Biella and Vercelli) to enter the next race in aid programs, funded by the European Union. The Alps
valligiana tradition provides for the pasture each category of cattle in the company, from cow to calf production. The pasture is useful, both for the use of otherwise non-consumable forage resources, both to reduce the cost of feeding livestock. It is recognized that an adequate loading of animals per unit area and treatment of persons engaged in grazing cattle (spreading of manure and hay plant refused) promotes the production pasture, both in quantity and quality, and disadvantages the spread of species plants of low or no forage value.
The pasture is very common practice in the Valley Elvo and this goes for a nice and hospitable environment and reduces the risk of disruptions such as landslides. The farmer-shepherd valligiano generally uses two areas of pasture: one located at a lower level during the period May 15 - July 1, and the other at a higher level in the period 1 July - 1 September, to return to more low in September. In this simple rule are allowed wide exceptions such as the use of a single pasture or even three or more.
The pastures of private property are generally located at elevations below 1000 m and occupy land not very large (less than 10 ha in most cases) may be used as a staging point of the herd going up to higher pastures in the spring, is down from these, in the fall.
The pastures at higher elevations are common property and considerable interest surfaces (up to 200 ha and more), while the pasture area profit from reduced emergency rock.
Grazing
It always divides into two areas: grazing fertigated, profile under the shelter of the herd (drùa), and the area not fertigated (pascul, cmùn) surrounding the most fertile area and is upstream of the shelter. The area is morphologically fertigated more accessible, the slopes are given manuals and ancient stone clearance permit, in some cases, using the mower for mowing of grass, hay, will allow the establishment of a stock of food for livestock, for use during periods when the grazing is hindered by adverse weather conditions.
The pasture is made fertile by the ancient practice of "slave", which basically consists in transferring the solid and liquid manure in a stable, usually devoid of litter, in a concrete pool (paru). From this tank the sewage, diluted with water, is distributed at varying intervals depending on the number of animals of the tank volume, water availability, weather conditions in the pasture below with the use of a canal (teacher ) dug in the direction of maximum slope. Depart from the main channel some secondary channels that follow, with low gradient, the contour lines. The operator, after having appropriately diverted the flow of the slurry from the primary to the secondary channel, through a barrage of sward, soil and stones, is preparing to raise the level of sewage until it is overflowing in the grazing area chosen, and to this end a bundle of ferns held together by a rope. With this practice, centuries old, the herdsman keeps the greedy fertile mountain pastures. In the pasture
not fertigated not pursue any agronomic practice with the exception of rare mandrature means allowing for a few nights, the young cattle or dry cows, outdoors, in the area you want to fertilize. This pasture (cmùn) is usually morphologically the area more difficult, both for steep slopes, and for the presence of outcropping rockiness and bushes.
Generally cattle are placed in the pasture twice a day and retired at night and during the hottest hours of the afternoon. In the morning the animals are conducted in grazing, even very far from the hospital (up to one hour of travel), while in the afternoon remain at the stable, in that fertile. This practice satisfies many dietary requirements of cattle: the fiber ingested in the morning, as well as allowing a better functioning of the rumen, increases the amount of fat in milk, while energy and protein ingested in the afternoon allow a moderate milk production (5 -6 l/giorno), salvaguardando la salute e il buono stato di nutrizione dei bovini.
Al più tardi nella prima decade di ottobre, i pascoli sopra al Tracciolino vengono abbandonati dalle mandrie bovine che lasciano il posto, in autunno, a greggi ovini. Le pecore di razza Biellese, che hanno passato l’estate in pascoli molto alti, fuori dalla provincia di Biella, trovano ancora modo di alimentarsi, nei pascoli e nei boschi, fino alle prime nevicate. Questo secondo passaggio contribuisce ulteriormente alla “pulizia” del paesaggio e alla sua valorizzazione estetica.
I ricoveri
I ricoveri tradizionali sono costruiti in pietra, tenuta insieme da poca malta. Gli architravi e l’orditura dei tetti sono in legno, The cover is made of stone slabs (lose). The 'height of the premises does not exceed, in most cases, 2 m. Often, the pitch of the roof is close to the upstream slope, to minimize the resistance of the building to avalanches. In all cases the flood damage is minimal or no sign of a remarkable observation by the ancient builders, and probably a long history, who taught what are the preferential paths of avalanches.
The stables are generally rectangular with two rows of animals placed "on the back of rump." The trough, 40 cm wide, is bordered on one side of the wall of the building, on the other axis of a robust chestnut, drilled at mail. The animals are kept on a chain. The animal is placed 170 cm long and 100. Between the two rows of animals there is a service road (Mariana), about 1 meter wide, in which the manure falls that are cleared 2 times a day, with a tool that forged scraper rasp, a kind of rake with spatula to instead of teeth. The floor is usually made from slabs of stone, roughly squared, resting on the ground. Light and air enter from one door, located at the exit of the service lane, or cracks in the side of the door or on the wall opposite to it. The living area from
margari is only one: a small kitchen (12-18 sqm), traditionally without a table, whose only furnishings are made of a couple of benches against the walls, or stools with three legs, a small cupboard, a wooden plate rack and sometimes hanging by one or more modern style. The room, with fireplace, with or without the hood and the chimney is also used for making cheese from milk. The tradition does not provide services nor bedrooms: the margaritas are sleeping on the stable, in place for a barn.
The budget of the local service is completed by the dell'alpeggio fraidèl: a building basement, down, stand-alone or incorporated into larger building, crossed by a small stream, within which lay the boiler metal with milk, for el'affioramento cooling cream. In recent years, the traditional structure of Alpine shelters for reasons of human and animal health and hygiene reasons, housing has changed.
are counted several renovations that led to the modernization of local services and the addition of bedrooms, the adjustment of the stables. It is not uncommon to find structures, however, still used, which do not differ from those described briefly.
Productions Alpine
Productions best known are the Toma cheese and butter.
It is said that the term "Toma" comes from Italian archaic "retum" equal to fall, to include the precipitation of casein by rennet. Toma is the result of a need not be postponed: preserve and enhance milk consumption that exceeds the company and the hut.
The 'Alp' is generally far from the valley floor and is equipped with rudimentary equipment, dairy. It is therefore a technical requirement cheese very simple and usable even by those who need and dairyman is not for specific training.
In general, the toma produced in the Valley, today enters the category of cheese skimmed milk, but originally, and until a few decades ago, was prepared from whole milk. It was during World War II and immediate postwar period, for The increased demand for butter, many margari started making cheese after semi-skimmed milk.
Generalizing the methods of production of toma produced in the Valley is a difficult task. Roughly we can say that the lean toma is produced with milk from the evening milking, skimmed after a night of rest and not mixed with that of milking the following morning. Toma in fatty there is no rest period of milk, but it is used fresh from the cow.
In terms of dairy and microbiological the rest of the milk is of great importance. This loses its bacteriostatic properties and bacterial flora lactic important for making cheese, takes over altri gruppi di microrganismi, il grasso affiora e puo’ essere allontanato con un largo cucchiaio di legno.
La caldaia contenente il latte va riscaldata al fuoco e la temperatura che deve essere raggiunta è quella della mungitura. La maggior parte dei casari biellesi sostituisce volentieri al termometro la nuda mano.
Non tutti, naturalmente, apprezzano allo stesso modo la temperatura e quindi nascono problemi di “man cauda” (mano calda) e di “man frigia” (mano fredda). La forma sarà meno cotta e più pastosa se il casaro è dotato di man cauda e viceversa. Si rimescola con l’apposito legno e si lascia riposare il tutto per circa due ore. La rottura della cagliata è spinta fino a ottenere granelli as fine as grains of rice. Then left to settle on the bottom of the curd which will be harvested using a concave spatula or your hands. Purging is done by hand squeezing the curd in the form (traditionally made of wood or copper) to bring out the serum, and then allow to drain. This takes about 24 hours after which it passes to the maturing cellar.
The axis over which the cheese is placed to age are generally of larch, chestnut should never be that, for the richness of tannin black shapes. In traditional wine cellar is also used to salt and dry forms: saler is whether the microbial colonies that form on the crust will be yellow. Not saler, or only mildly, if the colonies are red. For the great importance that microbes play in the crust of toma sometimes favors their proliferation by putting the forms in the stable. High temperatures will stimulate the reproductive activities of the microflora and nitrogen, ammonia this will be an excellent food.
Organoleptic toma Biella you can not present tasters palate with a flat taste. The gradients of flavor (and texture of pasta) are infinite: dall'insipido flavor, from spicy to the fort. This depends of course from the hands of the dairyman and the vesting period, but great importance is given to this character, the bacteria pollution and between the propionic. They non sono generalmente presenti nel latte appena munto, ma derivano dall’ambiente e in particolare dalle feci. Sono gli agenti dell’occhiatura minuta e brillante tipica di questo formaggio. Per assurdo, se si aumentassero le condizioni di igiene della mungitura, l’occhiatura brillante e il sapore piccante sparirebbero e con essi sparirebbero i più tenaci consumatori e sostenitori di questo importante prodotto della montagna.
