Arroscia Valley

Enrico Pelos

General

Capital of this valley is the important Pieve di Teco, town at the end of the Impero valley. The village was founded in 1233 around the parish church a mill and a well, an example of which is still there passing the medieval bridge. The place was, and still is, one of the main way of passage and trading between the coast and the Piemonte region. The place which belonged to the powerful Clavesana family passed in 1386 to Genoa and was a battlefield for a long time. From Pieve you can continue to Borghetto d'Arroscia, a lovely medieval village, or go up to Pornassio, famous for the fine wineyards, and the Colle di Nava with an interesting fortress complex and a nice panorama. Cosio d'Arroscia is then on the left. The village has a particular architecture with covered passageways,  narrow streets and small windows to defend the inhabitants against the enemies and the snow in winter. You can then proceed to Mendatica, a nice summer resort and a sheep village some years ago. From here you can now proceed for Monesi, a ski resort on the Saccarello mount which with its 2,200m height is the highest of the Ligurian Mountains and one of the best trekking part of the whole Ligurian Alps, large panoramas towards France and very interesting walks in the woods are leading to the spectacular Arroscia falls. Ligurian and Piedmontese gastronomy in this valley. A speciality is the Streppa with caccialà a kind of pasta with a strong cheese. Cheese of many different types, raspebberries and mushroom-oil are to be taken home for a nice remembrance of the journey together with bottles of Dolcetto or Ormeasco wines.

(published on the web  15/10/2001)