Santo Stefano Belbo

Gateway to the upper Belbo Valley

Santo Stefano Belbo was the birthplace and spiritual home of Italian writer Cesare Pavese.

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The small country market town of Santo Stefano lies astride the River Belbo and just inside the boundary of Cuneo province; the steep hills north and south make it clear that you have left Monferrato and are now in the Langhe.

The tragic Italian writer Cesare Pavese (1908 - 1950) was born here, and his roots and this landscape permeate his novels, poems and letters. The town rightly hosts the Pavese Foundation and there is an annual Arts Festival in his name.

Piazza

The central piazza hosts festas and markets and at other times serves as a free car park

Langhe hills

The steep vineyard-clad Langhe Hills surround the town and the country lanes that climb them offer a birds-eye view over its rooftops.

Parish church

The church lies just off the central piazza, easily located by its large tower at the rear (this picture is of the facade to the front)

Enoteca

This beautiful tiled emblem tells you there is food and wine inside.

Fondazione Cesare Pavese

The Pavese Foundation is sited in a delightful group of buildings in the small Piazza Confraternita, centrally located just off the south east corner of the main square.

Foundation entrance

The modern entrance links the Foundation buildings together

Former church

The beautiful former church, incorporated into the complex, provides a location for meetings, lectures, film and theatre

The story of Pavese's life is recorded in a photographic display around the main staircase.

On the third floor you can see some of his correspondence and working drafts (many extensively re-worked) from his writing, and an evocative display of black and white photographs of the era in which he lived and worked, or scenes that he wrote about.

The Foundation hosts visiting displays of art and the small rear courtyard can host sculptures.

The annual 'Pavese Festival' (July and August) brings music, theatre, lectures, art and photography exhibitions to Santo Stefano Belbo.

Tourist information is available at the reception desk, and the Foundation staff are very helpful.

Practicalities

Santo Stefano Belbo is just 15 miles from Wisteria Cottage

There is adequate car parking in the main piazza.

There is also a rural train service from Canelli, but the station is some way out of town.

Short scenic drive

For an enjoyable half-day circular itinerary, from Wisteria Cottage head for Monastero Bormida, Bubbio and then Cassinasco, but take the left hand turn towards Cafi just before Cassinasco village. Follow this road along the hilltops, with amazing views both north and south to the neighbouring comune of Loazzolo.

From Loazzolo, a quiet country road descends to Santo Stefano Belbo. Return via the main valley road to Canelli.

Upper Belbo Valley

If you drive up the valley from Santo Stefano, passing through Cossano and then Rochetta Belbo, the scenery becomes progressively more wild and rugged. Where the land can be cultivated, vineyards are replaced by hazelnut plantations. Exit roads, to Alba in the north or Cortemilia to the south, become steeper and higher.

After Rochetta Belbo, the long distance Valle Belbo footpath runs along the southern watershed, high above you, and after the village of Bosia, settlements abandon the valley floor to perch on the hillsides.

If you follow the road through San Benedetto Belbo and onwards, you can reach the headwaters of the river at the Sorgenti Belbo (Belbo Springs) Natural Park. Here you have reached the southern limits of Piedmont. The attractive Ligurian village of Millesimo is nearby and a great place to break the journey.

You can then cross into the upper Bormida valley, and so return via Cortemilia and Bubbio to Wisteria Cottage by a circular route.

E mail: kerrie@anitalianadventure.co.uk

0039 0141 851 154