Tour of Lake Viverone

Introduction

Lake Viverone is situated 230 metres above sea level and belongs to the provinces of Biella, Vercelli, and Turin; it is located in the morainic hilly area of the Serra, it originated from the imposing flowing action of the gigantic Balteo glacier, which during the various glaciations that have taken place during the last 500,000 years, descending with its enormous mass from the present Valle d'Aosta, modelled and modified the orography of the north-eastern Canavese. It has a surface area of about 6 square kilometres, a maximum depth of 70, and a perimeter of 10.5 km. The lake is home to a variety of birds, including cormorants, grebes, coots, mallards, gulls, grey herons and ducks. Remains of pile dwellings from the Bronze Age (1300-900 BC) have been found on its bed. It is fed by springs and has an outflow that flows into the Dora Baltea. Since the early 1960s, Lake Viverone has undergone a strong and radical environmental modification, due to various anthropic interventions aimed at the tourist exploitation of the area. The environment thus presents two contrasting realities today: about half of the banks are occupied by housing, hotels, piers, marinas, and various tourist facilities. The south and west banks, on the other hand, have retained their naturalness, also favoured by the fact that the banks are marshy and not easily accessible. Here we still find strips of marsh reeds, associated with the presence of various aquatic plants: the Water Chestnut, the White Water Lily, the Nannufaro. The hinterland of this bank is occupied by the Maresco forest, one of the last examples of humid lowland forest in Piedmont.

Description

From the church, go up the small tarmac road towards Veneria, and when you reach the ridge, turn left onto the semi-asphalted road, skirting a few vineyards; continue on the level, with beautiful views of the lake and the surrounding hills, which in spring are dotted with pink peach trees, white plum and pear trees, and yellow mimosa and forsythia bushes. Continue slightly downhill until just below the junction with the state road that leads to Alice Castello, cross another small tarmac road that descends to the left, ignoring it, go straight ahead for a few metres along a dirt track until you reach the state road, and follow it to the left; Go downhill for a few hundred metres until you come to a lane with no access for cars; take this lane and continue as far as the little chapel of the Madonna d'Oropa; cross the tarmac road that runs alongside the lake, and continue to the right, keeping to the left-hand side of the roadway so that you can get a good view of the cars you pass. At the next crossroads, continue to the left, on the footpath, down to the lakeshore on the recently resurfaced lakeside; this is the busiest section... Continue, leaving behind the car parks at the top right, until you come to a bar on the right, on the other side of the road; just before the building there is a steep climb, about thirty metres long, which leads to a dirt track behind the bar, to be followed to the left; we enter again between low walls supporting vineyards; ignore the various branches and continue straight on, slightly to the left, going uphill between houses. At the top of the slope, proceed to the left again; we face the steep descent to Lido, which is very busy because of the cars going up and down; cross it and continue straight on, parallel to, but lower than, the SS228 road to Ivrea. As soon as you come to a small tarmac road, follow it to the right, uphill, crossing the state road with a subway and continuing steeply uphill into the village of Viverone. At the next crossroads is the first signpost for Cella San Michele. Continue for a few hundred metres, following the signs, until you reach the Cella. This monastic complex was originally dedicated to San Michele, but from the 16th century onwards it was called Cella di San Marco. Dependent on the Monastery of San Genuario, it is mentioned in two papal bulls, of 1151 and 1438; the Cella had the right to fish in the lake. It became commendatory in the 14th century and was left to the Benedictines. The church, in the original Romanesque structure of the north side and the semicircular apse, and the Romanesque bell tower, in living stone with double and single lancet windows, are visible. The interior was redone in the early 20th century in Baroque style. It is currently private property, and can only be seen from outside, walking to the left, under the curved vaults of the pergola. Continue past Cella San Michele almost flat, enjoying the spectacular views of the lake and between the dry stone walls, always without deviating at the various forks in the road, but going straight on; when it is no longer possible, having arrived almost against the hill, descend to the left and continue to the right, on the main road, as far as Anzasco, recognisable by the small pink church on the other side of the road. More or less opposite the little church, immediately after a publisher's, take the paved lane uphill that passes to the right of a beautiful Art Nouveau house. Continue again between vineyards and meadows, until you come to an old farmhouse, halfway down which, on the left, the path we must take descends, recognisable because there is a tall greenish electricity pylon at the end. When you get near the pylon, a dirt road descends to State Road 228 Viverone Ivrea; cross it, and continue to the right for about a hundred metres, until you take a dirt road on the left that leads into the countryside. You enter a grove, exit, and pass by huge cultivated fields, while to the left it is easy to see hares leaping about. The dirt road makes a wide semicircle away from the lake, passes to the right of a plantation of poplars, and at the end appears the peasants' village of Azeglio with its pointed bell tower; in this area there are many forks, always keep to the right, passing under the high-tension cables in the direction of the village, until you come to a paved road to follow to the left. The road arrives at a group of farmsteads with chickens and barking dogs, then becomes a dirt road, and should be followed on the level, penetrating into the marshland. In spring, the undergrowth where it is not overgrown by brambles is all in bloom; here, too, we encountered several hares. Follow this road for a few hundred metres until you come to the edge of the lake. Two huge sycamore trees, born spaced apart, by some strange freak of nature have, at about ten metres in height, their branches inserted into each other; I have never seen anything like this... At this point, after having admired the splendid view of the lake and its wild shore, go up a wide path to the right for a hundred or so steep metres, then continue to the left until you come to another dirt road, which is rather busy; above us passes the slip road connecting the Turin-Aosta motorway with the Turin-Milan motorway, and you can hear the noise of the traffic; it is perhaps the least pleasant stretch... Continue on level ground, entering a beautiful green valley, until the next fork, which we take to the left, arriving at a farmstead with the usual barking dogs and some fine horses in their pens. Climb straight up alongside the corrals, amidst the terraced fields, which must be followed first to the right and then to the left; the path is barely visible and steeply runs alongside an abandoned vineyard; having reached the ridge, a dirt track that must be taken to the right soon brings us back to the asphalt road that we climbed in the morning, which must be followed to the left, downhill, to the car (4.30 hours from the start, 13 km). I recommend a little digression: having left your rucksack and poles in the car, you can go down to the lakeside and continue to the right for about 100 metres; there is a nice little roundabout with a small wall covered with wooden planks, under a gigantic willow tree; a pleasant stop for a last glimpse of the whole basin.

Curiosities

An elderly woman, born in Azeglio, in the Canavese area, explained to me that decades ago each of the lakeside municipalities had the right to a 'slice' of the lake, for bathing and for bathing hemp (it seems that canavese derives from hemp). During the period when the fibres were left to soak, bathing and fishing were strictly forbidden in the area.