Discover Frassino: Trails, Frescoes and Local Traditions

Frassino combines impressive trails through the mountain landscape with visible traces of local history. If you are planning a holiday apartment in Frassino, you will find both longer circular hikes and cultural discoveries in the village and along historic routes. On Via Vecchia, there is a bifora with a twisted column and a capital made of green stone, as well as a projecting portal. This is considered the only still identifiable evidence of a fortified house in the main village.

Votive Pillars, Language and Craftsmanship

Along the trails and in the hamlets of Frassino, there is a remarkable number of votive pillars decorated with different frescoes. They were erected from the 18th century until the period after the Second World War. The language also remains present in the village landscape: Frassino’s toponyms are Occitan, and some of them appear on the municipality’s signposts. Traditional masonry craftsmanship is also part of the village’s distinctive character. It is considered to remain alive in Frassino; the village’s masons are also widely valued beyond the municipal boundaries.

Circular Trails and Rocky Terrain

The Anello 1 loop trail leads from Frassino via Campo Soprano, Meira Baricocua, Meira Danna, Meire del Banc, Chiaronto and Madonna degli Angeli back to Frassino. The tour takes five hours. Along the way, it passes below the rocks of Monte Ricordone, by abandoned fields, houses and centuries-old chestnut trees. The Percorso Avventura di Charonto offers a different experience of the landscape: above the hamlet of Charonto in Frassino, it runs through rocky terrain at an altitude between 1,010 and 1,270 metres. This allows you to take different routes and landscape impressions into account when planning your day.

The Santuario Madonna degli Angeli

The Santuario Madonna degli Angeli stands at an altitude of 780 metres on a wooded plateau in the central Val Varaita, in the municipality of Frassino. The present-day sanctuary was built between 1854 and 1860. Inside, refined frescoes created by the painter Giovanni Borgna in 1879 can be seen. The Santuario is located about 100 metres above the valley road, along a medieval route to Sampeyre. This route was widened in the 18th century and acquired a certain commercial importance. The sanctuary was also situated on the pilgrimage route used by pilgrims from the Saluzzese area to reach the Santuario della Madonna Nera di Becetto, a high-altitude hamlet of Sampeyre.

Local Specialties and Further Trails

Culinary specialities include Tomin dal Mel, a cheese typical of Frassino and Melle. The “La vio di toumin” meets the mule track leading up from Frassino at a votive pillar farther uphill. In the wider area around Frassino, the climbing crag Cop de Rore is located in Sampeyre. It can be reached via a five-minute walk from the last bend before the small church in the hamlet of Charonto in Frassino. There is also a motorhome rest area on Strada del Varaita. When choosing your accommodation, you can therefore weigh up whether cultural details of the village, mountain trails, historic pilgrimage connections or local specialities should be the focus of your stay.

Further Places to Choose Yourself

Murazzo, Sambuco, Gorzegno, Tre Rivi, Villafalletto, Castagnito, Melle, Demonte

For the higher-level travel overview: Cuneo.