The tiny village of Bergolo is perched over 600 metres above sea level overlooking the Bormida valley on one side and the Uzzone valley on the other, in the Upper Langhe area of the Province of Cuneo in Piedmont. It is said to be the smallest village in the Province of Cuneo and one of the smallest in Italy with a population of just 80.
This however is a hill top village with a difference, for nearly nine hundred years this quiet agricultural backwater got on with its daily life relatively untroubled by changes in ownership, be they by Marquis, Duke or Count until 1970, when a different sort of revolution overcame Bergolo. The village was gradually dying, its population dwindling, its land lying fallow and the future uncertain. It was time for a change.
An enlightened local council and the remaining residents decided there was another way, rural tourism. Today, Bergolo is known as the Paese di Pietra (Village of Stone), a unique place where nature meets culture in a hill top setting. The locals, Bergolesi, have reinvented their village by concentrating on stone, even stripping the bell tower and church to reveal the ancient stone work lying beneath the plaster. The 12th century Romanesque Chapel of St. Sebastiano sits at the highest point of the village from where the landscape and views are breathtaking. The surrounding area has numerous hiking trails around the ‘Langhe Sea’ of rolling hills.
There are numerous events held here, in May there is the ‘Cantè Magg’, an International singing and dancing show, in July the ‘Bergolo Stone Age Festival’ features live music, in September its ‘Flavours of Stone’, a festival spread over two days, food, wine and local products are exhibited. All this backed up by a village that has morphed into an outside gallery of contemporary art where paintings and sculptures feature at every turn and where the poet Ezra Pound has a memorial.
How to get there:
On the border of southern Piedmont and Liguria, Bergolo is about 40 km from Alba and Acqui Terme, and about 45 km from Savona on the coast. The nearest town is Cortemilia which is about 8 km from Bergolo. Nearest Autostrada: A6 Torino to Savona.
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