Art, Culture, and Traditions - Piemonte Feel

The Orco and Soana Valleys jealously hold on to the traditions and tangible culture tied to the humble and difficult lives of the mountain people, to their seasonal migrations in search of work, to the proto-industrial activities of millers and smiths, to the first factories, and to the energy industry. The migrants adapted themselves to the most humble and exhausting work: manual laborers, masons, miners, certain nomadic jobs typical to the Orco and Soana Valleys, which have now disappeared, such as chimney sweep (spaciafurnel), glassmakers (vedriat), knife-grinder (mulitta), and the coppersmith who created and repaired copper pots (magnin).

Still today, the tradition of hammering and hand working copper survives in the Orco Valley and in Alto Canavese. In Pont, during the month of June, an artisan fair is held with several workshops for the creation and sale of copper goods. In Sparone, there is a small copper foundry; while in Alpette, the seat of the Scuola del Rame (Copper School) and where tools of the trade and antique objects are exhibited a small museum, the Festa dei Magnin (Coppersmith Festival) is held during the month of July. In the ancient Ronco copper forge, where two wonderful power hammers are kept, a section of the Ecomuseo (Ecology Museum) of the Orco and Soana Valleys has been set up and is overseen by the Gran Paradiso National Park. Another Ecomuseo is found in Locana, and a third is in the works for Ribordone’s Prascondi Sanctuary. Also, the Museo Etnografico del Cantjir a Pont Canavese (Pont Canavese’s Cantejir Ethnographic Museum) deserves mention; kept here, are numerous objects, tools, and clothing relative to life as it once was, to the customs and to the typical jobs that existed in the valleys. Also in Pont, inside the medieval Ferranda Tower, a Museo del Territorio (Museum of the Territory) will be set up and will offer visitors a panorama of the natural, cultural, artistic, and historical heritage of the Orco and Soana Valleys. Also in Pont, one can visit the Museo delle Materie Plastiche Sandretto (Sandretto Museum of Plastics), in the factory of the same name, which covers the evolution of the uses of this modern and eclectic material. It is also possible to visit, with a reservation and a guide, Turin’s AEM hydroelectric plants in the Orco Valley, true and proper monuments to human technology, which are oftentimes located in important environmental areas. Even local artisanship offers a complete series of interesting handiwork to tourists, including: the floral embroidery for the costumes of the Soana Valley, wood sculpture, copper objects, baskets (fahton), and house slippers (scapin). The local language is also quite interesting - a patois with a clearly Franco-Provencal origin spoken in the Upper Valleys and, particularly, in the Soana Valley.