Upper Sermenza
Edited by:
Massimo Martini
Access
The municipality can be reached from the motorway, taking the Romagnano-Ghemme exit, then continuing along the Valsesia road network towards Varallo. From Varallo, head up the Val Sermenza, a side valley of the Valsesia, following the provincial road towards Balmuccia and Rimasco, until you reach the municipal area. Beyond Rimasco, the road continues towards the hamlet of Rima San Giuseppe and the sub-hamlet of Rima, at the end of the valley. There are no direct rail links: the nearest station is at Varallo or Romagnano-Ghemme, on the Novara–Varallo line. Daily bus services connect Varallo with Boccioleto, Rimasco, Carcoforo and Rima. During the winter months, there may be restrictions on travel along the highest section of the valley.
Introduction
Alto Sermenza is a municipality in Val Sermenza, a side valley of Valsesia, in the province of Vercelli, with Rimasco as its administrative centre, nestled around the artificial lake formed by the confluence of the Sermenza and Egua streams. The municipal area stretches along the two valleys, ranging from 849 metres at its lowest point to 2,964 metres at Monte Tagliaferro, which it shares with the neighbouring municipality of Alagna Valsesia. Created through the merger, on 1 January 2018, of the municipalities of Rima San Giuseppe and Rimasco, the municipality retains an identity linked to the Walser settlement of the 13th–14th centuries in the upper part of the valley, towards Rima, and to a native Valsesian tradition in the lower part, towards Rimasco.
Description
The Alto Sermenza area stretches along two converging valleys, the Val Sermenza and the Val d’Egua, whose streams meet at Rimasco. The landscape is dominated by the Monte Rosa massif, which includes the municipality’s highest peaks, such as Monte Tagliaferro (2,964 m) and Punta Grober (3,497 m), on the watershed with Alagna Valsesia. In 1925, a dam was built downstream of the village of Rimasco, creating an artificial reservoir used for electricity generation, which is now a defining feature of the local landscape.
Rimasco was inhabited by indigenous Valsesian people; in 1479 it separated from the parish of Boccioleto, becoming an autonomous religious community. The upper part of the valley, corresponding to the former municipality of Rima San Giuseppe and the hamlet of Rima, was instead settled from the 14th century onwards by Walser settlers from Alagna Valsesia via the Colle di Mud. In the second half of the 19th century, the craftsmen of Rima gained renown in European courts for their work in artificial marble, ushering in a period of economic growth that left its mark on the village’s architecture. The new municipality of Alto Sermenza was established on 1 January 2018 following the merger of the municipalities of Rima San Giuseppe and Rimasco, ratified by Regional Law No. 14 of 10 October 2017 after a consultative referendum held on 11 June 2017.
Historical activities include alpine sheep farming, cheese production and, more recently, hiking and recreational fishing, facilitated by the numerous streams and the artificial lake at Rimasco. Rimasco is home to the Fun Bob, a toboggan run with a 600-metre descent. In Rima, there is the Museum of Artificial Marble and the Gipsoteca Museum dedicated to the sculptor Pietro Della Vedova, a native of the village.
The upper part of the municipal area, towards Monte Tagliaferro and Colle di Mud, forms part of the Alta Val Sesia and Alta Val Strona Nature Park. The network of footpaths connects Rima to the Alagna Valsesia side via Colle di Mud and to the Anzasca Valley via Carcoforo, whilst from Rimasco there are routes leading to the side valleys of the Val d’Egua.