In the paradise of two wheels, among nature, art and good food: holidays in Sassello – Part I

This time we invite you to a corner of earthly paradise, Sassello, home to the Ristorante Hotel Pian del Sole, which we recommend for all sorts of holiday ideas, starting with sport for lovers of two wheels, among nature, art and good food.

It is said that long ago the elderly people of Genoa would say, if someone was feeling unwell: "Take them to Sassello and they'll pick up again." A healthy and beautiful place to rest and get back in shape thanks to the good air and exquisite food: this is Sassello, a town set between the western Genoese hinterland and the hills of the Upper Monferrato, immersed in a fabulous territory covered by dense woods where delicious mushrooms grow, where you can take long walks along the paths winding through the Beigua Regional Nature Park, and where brightly coloured villages tell the story of a territory that may date back to the Palaeolithic. The prestigious Orange Flag tourism-and-environment quality mark of the Touring Club was born right here, and Sassello was the first Italian locality to be awarded it.

To introduce us to the beauties of Sassello's unspoilt nature, who should appear but a roe-deer fawn, shy but curious, crossing the road in front of us. Once in the village, the locals tell us that spotting animals, including hares, martens and various rare birds, is an everyday occurrence here. After the "welcome" given to us by the friendly roe deer, we reach our lodging for this long weekend: the Hotel Pian Del Sole, right at the entrance to the centre. We leave the car in the convenient car park of the spacious property and, after enjoying a good coffee in the lobby, settle into our rooms, taking two of the thirty-two rooms, all en-suite and equipped with every comfort including TV, telephone and wifi. Our rooms, bright, welcoming and furnished in an elegant modern style, also have a large terrace with a table, deckchairs and a clothes rack.

The view is fabulous from all the rooms, many of which offer a picturesque outlook over the village, while from the others you can admire the thousand shades of green of the surrounding landscape. Besides the rooms there are also two large apartments with a kitchen equipped with appliances. Before going out we get some drinks at the bar and then head for the historic centre, just a few dozen metres from the hotel. We begin our walk admiring the religious buildings nestled among the typically Ligurian little streets. We visit the church of the Santissima Trinità, consecrated in 1725, in which a fresco by Paolo Gerolamo Brusco allows us to discover the town's important ironworking tradition, probably dating back to the fourteenth century, when the Pizzorno family introduced the first ironworks here.

The artist in fact depicted the Apostles modelling them on the likeness of eleven bearded ironworkers, thus immortalising the craftsmen who for centuries made the industrial history of Sassello. The town's first place of worship, however, was the church of San Giovanni Battista, erected in the eleventh century. Inside it there is also a statue by Anton Maria Maragliano. In the centre we also visit the sixteenth-century Basilica dell'Immacolata Concezione, once attached to a convent of Friars Minor. Besides the Ligurian colours of the palazzi, the centre of Sassello also delights us with the colours of its tempting amaretti, the soft almond-paste biscuit, available in a great many flavours. To discover another piece of history we climb to the fort of Bastia Soprana, erected around the middle of the thirteenth century in a dominant position on a hill not far from the centre.

Today only a few ruins and the round tower remain of the castle. After the destruction of the manor another was erected, Bastia Sottana, of which various parts have survived, including stretches of wall. The charm of the past also strikes us during our visit to the precious collections of the Museo Perrando, which holds many fossil finds, prehistoric objects and medieval tools, as well as ceramics and period furniture. In Sassello the hamlets too, reachable along a few kilometres of road lined with woods and meadows, offer great emotions not only for their natural beauty but also for their historical and artistic treasures linked to the town's spiritual life. The church of San Bernardo Abate di Palo is mentioned in documents as early as 1577, while along the road leading to Urbe stands the chapel of the Madonna del Foresto, also known as the chapel of the Bei Bailà.

It was built by a woodcutter who was miraculously saved by the Madonna. One day, while he was felling a tree, the man was seriously injured and feared he would bleed to death. So the woodcutter, who was also a skilled dancer, as the term "bei bailà" recalls, began invoking the Madonna, who saved him. Sassello was also the birthplace of a blessed, Chiara Luce Badano, whose miraculous story of faith took place in very recent times. The girl, born in 1971 and dead at only eighteen, belonged to the Focolari movement, and her name is linked to the miraculous healing of a young man from Trieste.