Special Natural Reserve of the Ciciu del Villar (Villar San Costanzo) - Piemonte Feel

Nature parks

Special Natural Reserve of the Ciciu del Villar (Villar San Costanzo)

Category: Parks

Villar San Costanzo

The Reserve is found at the entrance to the Maira Valley on the left bank, on the outskirts of Villar San Costanzo, and protects an outstanding geological phenomenon: erosion columns. It involves the phenomenon first of depositing and then of erosion, formed by the movement of water that has created unusual “mushrooms of stone”, made up of a stem formed from clay surmounted by a hat-like boulder. The nickname “ciciu” means “puppet, little man” since these works of nature can also be reminiscent of a man wearing a hat. There are four hundred of them in the area, with a diameter of between 2 and 7 metres and a height that, in some cases, reaches 10 metres. A tour of this “rocky garden” can be made by following the equipped routes; there is also a self-guided educational route, “Ciciuvagando” (roaming the Ciciu), that constitutes a real open air museum for the discovery of the characteristics of the protected area.

Information

Area: 64 hectares
Elevation: 640 - 1000 metres above sea level
Established: 1989
Environment: mountainous
E-mail: parcopesio@ruparpiemonte.it
www.parks.it/parchi.cuneesi
Head office
Via Ciciu, 47 - 12020 Villar San Costanzo (Cn)
Tel. +39.0171.902427