Grande Traversata del Biellese (GTB)

Introduction

The Grande Traversata Biellese (Great Biellese Crossing) winds through the Biellese territory, touching on points of historical and scenic interest. In just a few square kilometres, the province of Biella has places of great interest: the Serra, which is the longest moraine in Europe, the archaeological area of Bessa, unique in its kind, Oropa, which is one of the most important Marian sanctuaries in the Alps, the Ricetto di Candelo, also a complex of this kind unique in Europe, and also the Baraggia, a nature park and one of the rarest areas ever cultivated, Lake Viverone, castles and museums.

Description

The route starts in Oropa and after 250 km returns to Oropa, winding mostly between 400 and 800 metres above sea level, with 18 stages, all of which end in places where it is possible to stay overnight, or from where it is easy to reach overnight points. From Oropa, the route continues to the Sanctuary of Graglia, along the Serra to Lake Viverone, up to the Burcina, moving on to Zumaglia, touching the rice fields of the lower Biellese and then on to the vineyards of Masserano, climbing up to Valsessera, crossing the Cervo valley and returning to Oropa. The main features of the itinerary, shown on the overview map published by the Province of Biella, are: Number of stages: 18 Total length: 250 km Provinces crossed: Biella, Vercelli, Novara Communes crossed: 62, of which 54 in the province of Biella, 7 in the province of Vercelli, 1 in the province of Turin Thematic itineraries: - nature parks - sanctuaries, churches, hermitages - ecomuseums (sharing the culture of a small thematic area) - castles - mushroom and wine trails - Fra Dolcino trails - Serra moraine Documentation and information: Map La Grande Traversata del Biellese in 18 stages 1: 150 000 published by the Province of Biella 5 maps of the Biellese at 25 000, published by the Province of Biella OASI ZEGNA - http://www.oasizegna.com/ RICETTO DI CANDELO - http://www.comune.candelo.bi.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/112 PARCO BURCINA - http://www.parks.it/parco.burcina/index.html PARCO BARAGGIA - http://www.parks.it/riserva.baragge/index.html LA BESSA - http://www.parks.it/riserva.la.bessa/index.html ATL BIELLA - http://www.atl.biella.it/on-line/Home.html  Santuario di Oropa - Santuario di Graglia

Introduction

The journey time for this stage is about 4 hours and 30 minutes, there are no problems whatsoever; the uphill stretches are from Chiavolino to the beginning of the path crossing, and from the Ambrosetti bridge to the Santuario di Graglia; taking into account the ups and downs, the difference in height is about 500 metres.

Description

Go up to the Sanctuary of Oropa and park your car around the large lawn in front of the gates (Prato delle Oche). Turning your back to the Sanctuary, look for the old tram route at the far south-eastern corner and follow it until you find the tarmac again, after passing behind one of the Sanctuary's chapels. Continue on the tarmac road to the next chapel of San Fermo, in front of which a dirt road starts, passing in front of what remains of the Hydrotherapeutic Establishment of Oropa, the first one built in Italy, in 1850; Eleonora Duse also came here to "pass the waters". From a certain point onwards it was abandoned, and then sacked and set on fire. It now seems that a group of entrepreneurs intend to renovate it and put it back into operation. Continue almost level to a scenic knoll, to the left. You enter a beautiful larch forest and descend, following the posts with the yellow GTB D51 and then C51 symbol, on a track and path, passing by some very nice huts, until you reach a small tarmac road that you follow steeply downhill until you reach Chiavolino, at a crossroads, where there is one of the signs illustrating the route: take and right onto a dirt road, cross the Oremo stream over a bridge, continue uphill and reach, after passing behind a recently renovated farmstead, the Sentiero Frassati, or D41, to be followed uphill, even steeply, to a triangular stone and a bench. Continue uphill for a short distance, then immediately after the junction with the C30 path coming from the right, take the path to the left that crosses to what remains of the Frassati pine forest. This path then becomes a little wider; either by following the C30, or the GtB signs, you reach a dirt road with limited traffic, which descends amidst beautiful pastures and wonderful farmsteads, with sweeping views over the Biellese area, until you reach the tarmac road behind the Sanctuary of San Grato, visited by Carducci, as a plaque on the church façade reads; there is a pylon from which you can draw water. To climb up to the Sanctuary, cross the tarmac road and look for the wooden arrow on your right, along the fence, indicating a path, first downhill and then uphill, that arrives behind the houses; there is a very wide view of the villages below, of the Sanctuary of Graglia, whose silhouette is visible on the right, and of the mountains. From the sanctuary, descend to the west along the new road lined with lampposts, then take the beautiful cobbled mule track to the left of the asphalt road below, cutting hairpin bends. When the path becomes flat, follow to the right a road, first paved and then dirt, that leads to Ponte Ambrosetti, an old bridge that connected Sordevolo to the village of Bagneri. The mule track climbs steadily after the bridge, until it reaches the car-free road in Castagneto that leads to Bagneri. Cross it and climb up through the woods, turning sharply to the west and touching on a couple of farmsteads as far as Casale Partidi, from which you follow a level farm track to Cascina Dairetti, from which you descend to the Graglia shrine after passing by the cemetery. Note: from the coniferous forest after the Oropa hydrotherapy establishment, instead of descending to Chiavolino and climbing up again, you can continue westwards on path C30; the path crosses the Oremo stream at a point with no bridges, and the riverbed has been upset by one of the recent floods, so it may not always be forded easily. If you only want to walk this stage and have only one car, you can leave by bus from Biella, and return to Biella by the same route from Graglia Santuario. The photographs were taken in different seasons.

Related topics

[[Oropa Sanctuary]] San Grato and the Trappa Sanctuary of Graglia and the endecasyllabic echo

External links

See timetables at: http://www.atapspa.it/on-line/Home.html Map of Paths The North-West Biellese Sheet 2 published by the Province of Biella Chapel in winter version Ruins of the hydrotherapeutic establishment Ruins of the hydrotherapeutic establishment Larch woodland Larch woodland A farmstead A farmstead The beautiful pastureland routes The beautiful pastureland routes The Mucrone The Mucrone Descending to San Grato Descending to San Grato San Grato San Grato The Mucrone from San Grato The Mucrone from San Grato The Mucrone from San Grato The plain from San Grato The plain from San Grato The cobblestones for Sordevolo The cobblestones for Sordevolo The cobblestones for Sordevolo The old factory The Ambrosetti bridge The Ambrosetti bridge Near the road to Bagneri Near the road to Bagneri The Sanctuary of Graglia The Sanctuary of Graglia One of the chapels One of the chapels One of the chapelsIntroduction The walking time for this section is about 5 hours and 30 minutes; the route is on footpath, dirt road and a few asphalt stretches. Despite the fact that Torrazzo is 200 m. lower in altitude than the Santuario di Graglia, the route has several ups and downs, a couple of which are quite challenging, from Netro, near the Officine di Fiai up to Truc Canagge, almost 200 m. dsl, and then up to 880 m. above Castellazzo. Climb up to the Graglia Sanctuary (obviously, if you arrived from Oropa on the first stage, you are already at Graglia Santuario...) and park your car in the square in front of the old hydrotherapy establishment, which is now a residence. Continue between the houses of the hamlet of Campiglie, cross a small bridge and cross the road leading to Bossola, ending up in a small square with a fountain. Follow the small road between the houses, first slightly downhill and then flat. You come to a house whose wall is decorated with toy cars and fairy tale characters, like the kind you find in chocolate surprises... The whole thing is very curious, there are dozens, not to say hundreds of them... We now continue flat or almost level, heading west, on a dirt road and then on a path, crossing the Ara stream, going around a ridge, past beautiful little waterfalls, and then descending into the woods until we ford the Strusa stream and reach beautiful meadows. We cross the tarmac road that descends to Netro and follow it downhill; we come across a picnic area and continue almost to Netro, where a board explains the history of the Officine Fiai. Netro is famous in the Biella region for its workshops where iron tools for agriculture and carpentry have been produced since ancient times. A factory is still in operation today. Just beyond the board, reverse direction and climb a very steep path to the right that leads to Truc Canagge. We take off and continue almost level along a track, passing behind a renovated farmstead to the tarmac road that climbs from Ceresito, which we follow downhill to the picnic area. We continue on the track in the direction of Cascina Poneira and then descend on a paved mule track between dry stone walls along a beautiful path to Castellazzo di Donato. We climb again until we come to a small road and then to the hamlet of Casale, from which, continuing along the road after the small church straight ahead, we take a very steep mule track to the right that crosses the village and climbs onto a track from which we then reach the picnic area of Donato. Along a steep mule track, we cross the village, pass by the tower and descend to the hamlet of Mulino. We descend again on a nice cobbled road, cross the Viona stream and climb up through the woods on a path until we reach the Sala - Croceserra asphalted road near Scalveis. From Scalveis we reach a firebreak that runs for several hundred metres along the ridge of the Serra moraine to the village of Torrazzo, where the itinerary ends. Wanting to make a circular tour on this itinerary, once you reach the picnic area in the hamlet of Castellazzo di Donato, instead of descending, climb up the steep tarmac road to the track connecting Andrate with Bossola. Take it and follow it to the right; after about 500 metres of dirt road, it becomes asphalted and you continue for a few kilometres to Bossola, an itinerary that offers priceless views of the Biellese plain, from the Canavese mountains to Monviso, as far as Serra, the Biellese mountains and even the Lombardy Pre-Alps, about 250/300 metres of elevation gain above the outward journey. From Bossola descend on asphalt to Graglia Santuario and retrieve the car; for this circoalre tour, calculate 4 hours and about 600 m of altitude difference. In Netro there is an Ecomuseum on iron working (015 65124), and a Romanesque cemetery chiase. Bus timetable: timetables at: http://www.atapspa.it/on-line/Home.html Map of the Paths in the North-West Biellese Sheet 2 published by the Province of Biella Map of the Paths in the South-West Biellese Sheet 3 published by the Province of Biella Hamlet of Campiglie Hamlet of Campiglie The beginning of the little road The beginning of the little road The curious fence The curious fence The first little bridge The first little bridge The beautiful pastures The beautiful pastures The history The history The history Old farmstead perfectly restored Old farmstead perfectly restored A section of the route A section of the route The Serra The Serra Other pastures above Ceresito Other pastures above Ceresito Rustic scenery Rustic scenery Countryside Countryside A fine stretch of mule track A fine stretch of mule track The little church of Fr. casale The little church of fr. casale The little church of fr. casale Mule track for fr. Mulino Mule track for fr. Mulino Donato_Bastia_20080101_15.jpg Donato_Bastia_20080101_15.jpg