GTL | Stage 3A Bergolo - Pezzolo Valle Uzzone

The Uzzone Valley is the last and most secret of the Langhe valleys, it runs parallel to the wide Bormida Valley, right at the extreme border with Liguria (and therefore the second Bormida Valley, that of Cairo - Spigno) and starts from the wall of Bric Baraccone at 765 m (beyond, the Carretto hamlet is already Cairo) where the stream originates which will then flow for just 20 kilometers before diving into the Bormida in Cortemilia. Despite its short life, the Uzzone is very impetuous, responsible for quite a few disastrous floods along its entire course. The Valley is proudly called by its inhabitants (and with mocking irony by others) "Valley of Science", due to the large number of scholars who were born here. It is very green, silent, fragrant and practically intact. Heavily affected by depopulation in the 1900s, it saw its municipalities reduced from four to two, with the merger of Scaletta into Castelletto and the merger of Torre and Gorrino into Pezzolo Valle Uzzone. Observing this wild panorama, you arrive at a crossroads, at which you turn right to face the last stretch, the steepest one, which quickly leads to the provincial road at the bottom of the valley and to the houses of Pezzolo. Obviously, if traveled uphill, this connection is decidedly less fast and more tiring.In Pezzolo Valle Uzzone, the main street is almost the perfect archetype of the fortified village with the houses swinging on the carriageways, the sandstone portals, the flowered windows and the plaques of those who brought prestige to this land... in short, fill your nose and eyes of this miraculous village located on the Uzzone meadows to act as a guide to the valley. If you love hermitages, here, not far away, in the open countryside is San Rocco in Carpaneta, the only small church that overlooks the river and the fortress above instead of welcoming believers from the road