With Saint Peter among the Ligurian mountains: a day in Masone

The road that leads from the Po Valley to Voltri, where the Western Ligurian Riviera begins, is like a piece of music written with the heart: it starts softly, crossing a landscape of reassuring monotony that little by little, when you reach the first hills of Montferrat, begins to take on more intense tones, opening into a warm melody. Before reaching its climax in the blue harmony of the sea, it passes through its most intense phase, where the notes draw strong feelings and wild emotions, exactly like the breathtaking panorama of the Apennine heights, of the stream rushing between the pale rocks, of the dense vegetation of the woods whose dark green is broken by the bright colours of the typically Ligurian houses and by the white of the bell tower of some ancient little church.

To get to know these places up close, just leave the motorway at Masone, a municipality inhabited since Lombard times and mentioned in historical documents as early as 991, today part of the Beigua Regional Nature Park. We begin our walk from the hamlet where the Sanctuary of the Madonna della Cappelletta stands. Legend tells that many centuries ago a traveller named Macciò was attacked by brigands while he was on his way from Masone to Genoa. He hid among the bushes and was saved because he promised the Madonna that he would place a sacred image on the spot. The Sanctuary is mentioned for the first time in 1633 and its cult was also strengthened because the plague epidemic of 1656-57, which caused many victims on the Ligurian Riviera, spared Masone instead.

During our outing we visit several of the other splendid churches, besides the Parish church dedicated to Christ the King of 1920, the very ancient Church of Santa Maria in Vezzulla, founded at the beginning of the 12th century by the Benedictine monks, the 16th-century Ancient Parish Church of Our Lady of the Assumption, and next to it, the 17th-century Augustinian Convent. Reaching the Old Village, perched at a height of 432 metres, we find ourselves in the historic core of Masone, built at the beginning of the 17th century, with its typical terraced houses, built by order of the Marquis Lazzaro Grimaldi Cebà as the "habitation of the ironworkers". Indeed, Masone was for many centuries a municipality known for its intense ironworking activity and until the end of the 19th century there were numerous nail forges in the village.

Even the Civic Museum "Andrea Tubino", founded in 1980, which today collects a huge variety of finds and historical objects, was initially called the Nail Museum and later became the Museum of Archaeology and Iron. Still in the old historic centre we visit the place where the Spinola Castle once stood. Today its memory is preserved by a large panoramic open space, since the fortress was razed to the ground in 1746 by the Austrians. On Monte Bric Geremia, on the border with Mele, stands instead Forte Geremia, built in 1890 and recently restored. After this lovely tour, we move on to the hamlet of San Pietro, where we visit the beautiful Church of San Pietro. And the holy apostle of Jesus accompanies us even during the tasty epilogue of our day, directing us to the Ristorante San Pietro, located in the church square, with a large car park in front.

"The place has existed for about forty years," the ladies Angela and Lina, the owners, tell us. "Our grandparents were brothers, but we only discovered we were related after becoming friends while working together at another restaurant. From there came the decision, six years ago, to create our own restaurant, family-style. It is like having extended the home kitchen to welcome so many guests." While we have our aperitif, the children who are with us play outside. We begin dinner with the rich house starter: mixed cold cuts, little omelette, onion tart, Ascoli olives, courgette flowers in batter, bruschetta, porcini mushrooms, robiola with truffle, Russian salad.

We go on to taste a wide variety of traditional first courses from this territory between Piedmont and Liguria, including the typical homemade ravioli, the pansotti in walnut sauce, the green gnocchi with cheeses, the gnocchi with pesto, the taglierini in porcini mushroom sauce and the fettuccine with courgettes and prawns. In choosing the main courses we split between the roast beef, the vitello tonnato, the cima alla genovese, the roast veal, the veal shank with porcini mushrooms, the squid and prawn skewers, the roast guinea fowl, the roast suckling pig and the fried squid. We wash these delicacies down with some excellent Piedmontese wines including Barbera and Dolcetto, also tasting some Bonarda dell'Oltrepò.

The sweet conclusion of this lovely day sees us give in to the temptation of exquisite desserts such as apple tart, fruit tart, tiramisù, crème catalane, panna cotta, coffee and nougat semifreddo, as well as mixed sorbets, ice creams and fruit salad with lots of strawberries.

Francesca Bertha

FOR INFORMATION:

Ristorante San Pietro Via San Pietro, 184 Masone (GE) Tel.: 010/9269271