Sommariva del Bosco: Fairy-Tale Trail and Historic Buildings

Sommariva del Bosco is also known as the “porta del Roero” and lies at the first foothills of the Roero, which open towards the Cuneo plain. This landscape combines with a place where paths, stories and historic buildings appeal to different travel interests.

On foot through the historic centre and surrounding area

In the historic centre of Sommariva del Bosco, the Sentiero di Fiaba runs as a circular route with 23 panels depicting the fairy tale “La Bella Addormentata nel Bosco”. The tour begins at Piazza Seyssel d’Aix. You can follow the entire circular route on foot by following the blue arrows on the road surface. In this way, the trail combines a fairy-tale story with a clearly marked local circuit and can be included as a separate item in your daily itinerary.

When it opened in June 2023, the network of paths in Sommariva del Bosco comprised 14 hiking trails: five within the town and nine outside it, with a total length of 91 kilometres. The trails begin at Piazza Seyssel, except for trails 4, 5 and 6, which start at Parco del Bersaglio. One section of the Sentiero di Castelvirante runs along a paved road that can only be travelled on foot or by bicycle. For daily planning, the routes therefore differ in their starting points; on the relevant paved section, travelling on foot or by bicycle is the only option. The five trails within the town and nine outside it provide different spatial scales for a circuit in the town or its surrounding area.

Historic buildings with different traces of time

Castello dei Seyssel d’Aix may date from before the year 1000 and had certainly already been built by 1098 at the latest. The former circular fortress with nine towers includes three massive cylindrical towers from the 13th century and a large octagonal tower on the north side, all of which have been preserved. For a culturally oriented stay, the Castello therefore provides specific historical points of reference that you can deliberately include in a tour of Sommariva del Bosco.

The Santuario della Beata Vergine di San Giovanni was built incorporating the semicircular apse of an earlier chapel. The Oratorio delle Umiliate, dedicated to Sant’Orsola and Santa Elisabetta d’Ungheria, was built in the mid-17th century. The Chiesa di San Sebastiano dates back to the early years of the 18th century. The Chiesa di Sant’Anna is also known as Chiesa del Convento and dates back to the first half of the 16th century.

Further local pages for planning your trip

Further local pages for your planning: Mondovì, Roaschia, Moretta, Canove, Sampeyre, Neive - Borgonovo, Neviglie and Castellar.

To the higher-level travel overview: Cuneo.