A Trip with Llamas, Alpacas and Goats in the Genoese Hinterland: A Day in Savignone

The story

In 725 the king of the Lombards, Liutprand, was engaged in a rather delicate task: the transfer of the remains of Saint Augustine to the Basilica of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro in Pavia. When the body was in Savignone, the king came to the site in person to coordinate the operation. It was precisely in this beautiful village, immersed in the dark green of the Scrivia Valley, embraced by the wild Ligurian mountain ranges, that a miraculous event took place. The funeral procession laid the remains in a primitive little church. When it was time to set off again, no one could move the coffin from the ground: a divine weight nailed it to that place. King Liutprand knew how to interpret the sign correctly, promising the construction of a monastery. Once the promise was made, the procession was able to resume its journey.

On that spot the monastery of San Salvatore later arose, and today Savignone is part of the Cammino di Sant'Agostino (the Way of Saint Augustine), the pilgrimage that links the symbolic places of Augustinian devotion along the ancient Via del Sale (Salt Road). Walking through the alleys of the historic centre, among the typically Ligurian colourful houses, a breathtaking view of the surrounding mountains opens up, and it is easy to notice, on a rocky spur, the massive horseshoe-shaped tower of the now-ruined castle. Chatting with the locals, we discover that the fortress was built in 1207 by the people of Tortona on the same rock where, centuries earlier, the miraculous event concerning the body of Saint Augustine had taken place.

A few decades later, the castle, like the village of Savignone, came into the possession of the Fieschi, the family that held the castle of Savignone for the longest time, reaching, albeit with an interruption, into the nineteenth century. The Fieschi were called "Gatteschi" by the people, in honour of the heraldic animal that the family chose for its crest: a seated cat, turned to the left. Not only that: it is also known that their battle cry was "Cat! Cat!". We come across the Fieschi also in the main square of the village, where the sixteenth-century Palazzo Fieschi stands, near which we visit the parish church of San Pietro, founded by Urbano Fieschi in 1691, with numerous precious works of art inside, including a Visitation of Saint Catherine of Genoa by Giovanni Battista Carlone.

After this lovely tour of the centre, we set off to discover the wild, fascinating landscape in which Savignone is immersed. We thus reach the hamlet of Autra, near Olmi and not far from the railway line of the little Casella train, where our day will continue on a truly fantastic farm, at the Agriturismo Autra. We cross a little bridge and after a minute along a partly unpaved road that goes into the woods while still always remaining easy to travel, we arrive in front of the farmhouse where we can leave the car in the convenient car park in front of the property. As we get out, we barely have time to admire the breathtaking view of the surrounding mountains before our gaze meets the very sweet and curious one of a... white llama watching us from the terrace.

No, the heat hasn't gone to our heads; what we see really is a llama, and it is only the first of the exotic and unusual animals that we will have the pleasure of meeting here. Welcoming us with great kindness is Alfredo, the owner who runs the business together with his children Olmo and Agnese. While we chat over some cool drinks, including homemade rose syrup, we are joined by a little rooster with flamboyant plumage and an operatic cock-a-doodle-doo, and a tiny pastel-coloured hen. The llama occasionally passes by us, always with a curious air and gentle manners — it is not at all true that llamas can't be approached because they would spit. Seeing it up close, we discover instead that it is the ideal animal for the Ligurian terraces: it climbs and jumps to heights of over a metre with the same ease as breathing.

But how did this unusual farm, much loved even by the children who attend the educational farm, come about? "We founded the farm in 1983 with Roberta, the children's mother. At the time there was only the house with a few small outbuildings around it. We started with goats to make cheese, something we still do today, also involving the children who take part in the workshops. But since goats don't give milk all year round, we wanted to add cows too, focusing in particular on the Cabannina breed, native to the Ligurian Apennines. It was an almost extinct breed, also called the climbing cow, because like the llamas, they too have no difficulty going up and down these steep terrains. They give less milk than common cows, but their milk is of outstanding quality," says Alfredo.

"The business had soon aroused the interest of children and their parents, and so we began working with the summer camps managed by the Municipality. The farmhouse restaurant was added several years later and has become established thanks to our family management. Besides the classic lunches on Saturdays and Sundays, we also host ceremonies, parties and events. From November to March, after lunch, for groups of at least seven children, we prepare cheese together for free for them to take home," Alfredo continues. To the delight of the children, but also of the adults, we soon discover that we humans are in an absolute minority here: wherever we look, we see animals, almost all of them very unusual. Before lunch we tour the farm, which extends over a vast area typical of the Ligurian belt, with meadows but also wooded areas and terraces.

The llama we saw at the start is not the only one; in fact, he is the latest arrival on the farm. The other llamas too, including a small one, are as friendly and sweet as the first one we met. They go up and down between their stables located higher up and the level of the terrace where, behind the building, they have a little treasure: potato peels, which they are very fond of. "Llamas don't have strange dietary needs. They graze on the grass and, when there are any, they eat acorns or some fruit that has fallen from the trees. At this time of year they delight in plums. During the day we leave them free to go wherever they want, but in the evening we bring them back into the stables, luring them with a bit of corn and feed," Olmo tells us, as we reach another long-necked friend: the alpaca.

He too is very friendly; right now we see him shorn for the summer, with an outfit that makes him look even funnier. A little further on there is a fallow deer with velvety antlers, but we can also catch sight of a Cameroon sheep. Near the goat stables, of which there are also several varieties, from the Chamois-coloured to the Saanen, up to the Girgentana with horns that look as if they were sculpted by a Futurist sculptor, we notice a group of donkeys smaller than usual and almost all white: they are the Asinara donkeys, by now very rare even in Sardinia, but rediscovered here in Liguria. Pigs are not missing either, and among them too there is more than one unusual specimen, such as the woolly Hungarian Mangalica, or the Vietnamese piglets that happily scamper over the lawn, cleaning it without ever doing any damage.

From the small, chubby piglets we easily move on to exotic cattle such as the Madagascar zebu, the Scottish Highlander or the Himalayan yak. "We like to keep unusual animals and show them to people. We don't look mainly at the usefulness of certain animals, but at their charm. We like this life, it's good to take care of them, and it also gratifies us to see the joy of the children when they are amazed by certain animals or when they learn to make cheese. To amaze them, sometimes a pig in which they recognise Peppa Pig is enough, just as the llama seems to them to have come out of the cartoon The Emperor's New Groove," Olmo confides in us.

"The workshops with the educational farm take place from April to July, with school groups arriving by coach from Genoa. In September, instead, we take part in the Region's programme of open educational farms. The children are involved in various activities of the farm, they accompany the cows to pasture, interact with the goats and learn to milk them, tasting the freshly drawn milk. After lunch, which can be held at the farmhouse or even just packed and eaten sitting on the benches, they are taught to make cheese, which they can take home. Then when they return to the farmhouse with their parents, we offer them a free lunch," Olmo continues. For us too, lunchtime has arrived, and here we are savouring a lovely fresh zero-kilometre menu.

Besides the raw ingredients, largely from the farm and always from the local area (at the supermarket, at most, you buy napkins, nothing else), freshness also characterises the ideas in the kitchen: "We decide Saturday's menu on Friday afternoon based on what the vegetable garden offers at that moment," the owners explain. This time we start with cured meats and cheeses accompanied by meatballs, cuculli and vegetable pies. After the rich starter we enjoy some first courses of fresh pasta made at home with organic flour from a nearby business, choosing between two specialities, one with meat and one suitable for vegetarians: tagliatelle with ragù and pansotti with walnut sauce. We wash down these treats with mainly Piedmontese wines such as Gavi, or good reds from the Oltrepò Pavese.

For the main courses too we can choose between two options, which this time are a lovely mixed grill with ribs and chops, and roast pork with tasty, light fruit-based sauces, which the young people in our group like very much. The side dishes too are a gift from the garden, and finally we have only to give in to the sweet temptations of the homemade desserts, which generally tend to showcase the milk, ricotta and eggs produced on the farm. This time we delight in apple cake, tarts and fresh yoghurts that are very pleasant in the great heat. At the end of the day we set off back to the city, enriched by a wonderful experience and certain to return soon to Savignone, which we have discovered is not only the village of the cat, but also of the llamas, the goats and many other very friendly animals.