La Boutique Piemonteisa

An alternative route to the French Riviera. The Colle di Tenda is an Alpine mountain pass situated at an altitude of 1,871 metres above sea level, marking the divide between the Ligurian Alps and the Maritime Alps. Located along the main Alpine ridge, it lies between the Italian region of Piedmont and the French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. Its summit separates the Roya Valley, which straddles the Franco-Italian border to the south, from the Vermenagna Valley to the north. The pass has been a transit route since prehistoric times, once forming the highest point of the “Salt Road” and, later, the “Royal Road”. In Roman times, it marked the boundary between Cisalpine Gaul and Narbonese Gaul. The Romans erected a votive deposit there, consisting of more than four hundred Roman coins, dating from the 1st century BC to the 5th century AD, as revealed by archaeological excavations. Moreover, at the summit, evidence has been found of an ancient rite known as iactatio , linked to cro...

  In Arona, there is a giant protecting the city: the enormous statue of Saint Charles Borromeo. The town of Arona is situated on the Piedmontese shore of Lake Maggiore, in the province of Novara, Piedmont. It is a high-level tourist destination, thanks to its stunning location. Within the municipality lies the Lagoni di Mercurago Nature Park, a protected natural area, which was included in the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2011. Arona is crossed by the small stream Vevera and is surrounded by the so-called “motti,” low hillocks of glacial origin, incorporated within the Lagoni Park, where a pile-dwelling settlement was discovered, which is considered one of the "Prehistoric pile-dwelling sites around the Alps," also a UNESCO World Heritage site. In Roman times, Arona was located on the Mediolanum-Verbannus route (“Milano-Verbano Road”), a consular road in the regio XI Transpadana that connected Mediolanum (modern-day Milan) to Verbannus Lacus (Lake Maggiore or Verbano) a...