The Lighthouse on the Hills of the Miracle

Once upon a time there was a poor woman named Clarice, who lived in the 16th century. Every day she prepared food for her husband who cut wood up on the hill, but their lunch was often rather meagre. Once the woman cooked some herbs from the field, but having not even bread, she put the cooked herbs in a basket and took the road towards the hill where her husband worked. When she reached the Rocche, the point where the real climb began, she saw a woman of extraordinary beauty and kindness who called her by name and asked her for a piece of bread. Clarice replied that she would gladly give her some bread, but she had nothing but the cooked herbs. "Look in the basket"!, the woman replied. Clarice opened the basket and found it full of still-warm bread. "Holiest Virgin"!, she exclaimed, and the woman replied that she was exactly the one she was invoking.

She also told her: "Go to Molare and tell everyone that here I want a church in my honour. Here I will place a throne of graces". In the years that followed there were also several miraculous healings in the area.

We arrive at Molare a few minutes after leaving the motorway at the Ovada toll booth. We take the road to Acqui Terme and turn left, following the signs for the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Rocche: we chose Molare for this outing also because we wanted to know the place of such an important Marian apparition. At the exact point where the Virgin appeared to Clarice, a large wooden cross was erected, and later, in 1608, the first core of the Sanctuary was built, later enlarged in 1661 and 1867. You reach the sanctuary, surrounded by the green woods of the hills, climbing along an evocative tree-lined road. Once in front of the sacred building, the gaze can range over a breathtaking landscape and you feel immersed in the serenity of unspoilt nature.

The hills we admire here in Molare are part of that long mountain chain that separates Liguria from Piedmont. The two regions meet here and this contamination can be seen both in the architecture and at the table. The houses and streets of the historic centre of Molare recall those of Liguria both in their colours and in their layout: here too we find many alleys with mysterious atmospheres, arches under which horses once passed, and as in many villages of the area, there is even a fine 16th-century castle, that of the Counts Gaioli-Boidi. Molare originally had another castle, the Castrum de Molariis of the Marquises of Bosco, but unfortunately no trace has come down to us of the ancient castle and its famous tower.

The fact of being on the border between Liguria and Piedmont also emerges from the stories the local people tell us. After visiting the Sanctuary, we easily reach, in the very nearby hamlet of Borgo Peruzzi, a farm stay that overlooks the valley, offering a breathtaking view over the Orba Valley. The place is called Il Faro and the name is no accident: "We are from Genoa, and this view has always reminded us of the Lantern. When we came here, this place was an old ruin. But we fell in love with the place and we had a project, so together with our daughters Roberta and Fulvia, we created a farm stay", say Angelo and Daniela, the owners. Admiring the view from their Faro day after day, the family grew more and more attached to this landscape and the farming traditions of the place.

"It was our neighbour, the elderly Giovanni Peruzzo, a shy but genuine farmer, who passed on to us the love for the land and for animals. Thanks to him we started raising some cattle, and although unfortunately he is no longer with us today, I believe he would be proud of us", recalls Mr Angelo.

While we were talking about this farming world steeped in poetry and so far from the frenzy of the city, Mrs Daniela served us an exquisite dinner with a typical homemade flavour, in the spirit of the meeting between Piedmontese and Ligurian flavours. From the Piedmontese antipasto to the gnocchi with pesto, from the tagliolini with mushroom sauce to the vitello tonnato and the stuffed vegetables, all the good things we ate were made by mamma Daniela and her daughters, using fresh and genuine ingredients. To finish, a lovely fruit tart couldn't be missing, light and very good.

After our day in Molare, we return home refreshed in body and soul. Between the culinary "miracles" of the Faro and the legendary ones of the Sanctuary's story, we are happy to have discovered such a special place, with a mystical charm and authentic flavours.

Francesca Bertha

For information:

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