The Canavese and Lanzo Valleys, lands full of natural beauty and history, enchant visitors with their discrete charm: they represent an oasis on a human scale, experienced through glimpses of history and landscapes, resplendent in colours that match each passing season. The past has left its mark: churches and abbeys which are true jewels of romanesque and baroque art, with villas and castles displaying a variety of architectonic structures and periods. Strong traditions, replete with history, art and culture, exquisite testimonies of old events. A submerged world of myths and legends, re-emerging every year through historic re-evocations and folklore events, changing the appearance of towns and villages and embodying the genetic code of the territory. And the panoramas? The Serra d'Ivrea, with its astonishing linear profile, the chessboard appearance of the cultivated plain, the sequence of green woodland hills and vineyards, the paths and trails, the high snow-capped summits, the protected environments… Following evocative itineraries, it is possible to discover numerous lakes, green valleys and the delights of various parks, set amid an atmosphere awash with aromas and colours. The Gran Paradiso National Park, the first and largest in Italy, criss-crossed by kilometres of royal paths, offers countless excursion possibilities; the system of morainic and alpine lakes, and the various natural reserves, with their uncontaminated environments, are a sheer joy. The Park itself contains significant colonies of ibexes, chamois deers, marmots, alpine hares, stoats, squirrels and a highly varied avifauna: from large birds of prey, for example, Golden Eagles and the reintroduced bearded vultures, to willow grouse, crossbills, black woodpeckers and grey wagtails etc. The Park is not just a green heart offering protection for nature but also a paradise of emotions, with accommodation and mountain climbing tourism (providing you with an opportunity to carry out, with the help of an expert guide, fascinating treks over glaciers or climbs up various 3,000 metre mountains and the 4,000 metres of Gran Paradiso), as well as excursions along its dense network of trails, climbs up numerous rock gymnasium facilities, nature photography, outdoor sports (alpine and cross-country skiing, horse riding, mountain biking, windsurfing) or simply relaxation within a warm and welcoming setting. In every season, those who love sport will find numerous opportunities to enjoy themselves.
And if the culture of a country also, and perhaps above all, comprises art, you must not miss the itinerary offering a combination of realism and post-impressionism, when you visit Torre Canavese, a small farming village, transformed, starting from 1990, into an open air art gallery. Along its streets, roads and piazzas, it is possible to admire around a hundred works, by painters from the ex-Soviet republics and ceramists and Canavese artists. In the Valli Orco and Soana, copper working goes back to medieval times: the Fucina di Ronco Canavese and the Alpette School transmit the experience of manual work in creating artistic and everyday objects to younger generations. And what can we say about Pavone Castle, one of the most beautiful monuments in Italy’s artistic heritage? This too, is the Canavese.
Local cuisine has its roots in farming and stock breeding customs. Typical restaurants offer a great variety of dishes like ajucche soup (made from wild herbs that grow in the alpine pastures, between 600 and 2000 metres), capunet (cabbage roulade filled with meat), or tofeja (characteristic terracotta pan used for cooking beans, pigskin and spices); tasty recipes based on mushrooms, chestnuts, onions; dressed pork products and seasoned or fresh cheeses, especially Toma di Lanzo. And, to finish, a great variety of sweets and cakes: Nut cakes from Chivasso, Torcetti from Agliè and Lanzo, soft almond cakes from Castellamonte, Torta '900 from Ivrea, Canestrelli from Borgofranco, or Biscotti della Duchessa from San Giorgio Canavese. However, this area’s cuisine cannot be fully appreciated unless accompanied by local D.O.C. wines: from Erbaluce to Carema, from Passito to Canavese. And to gain a better understanding of how this also represents culture, routes have been provided for tourists, taking them through delightful local countryside, among vineyards, castles and churches and which, following the traces of the mythical sovereign who is said to have reigned in the year 1000 AD, Arduino, the first King of Italy, invite visitors to discover the area’s many wine cellars, together with a host of the most evocative and historic testimonies present within the territory.
The historic re-evocations each year renew customs which were already alive and well in the old Celtic culture, in the later roman civilisation and in medieval traditions. Among the events, a place of honour is certainly enjoyed by the "Torneo di Maggio alla Corte di Re Arduino" (May Tournament at the Court of King Arduino), a re-evocation held every year in the small Canavese town of Cuorgné. However, the most significant event in the area, one of the most important in Italy, is the Ivrea Carnival, also known as the “Battle of the Oranges”. During the event, that has ancient roots (XII century), the city is resplendent with lights and colours, impregnated with intense and penetrating aromas. Ivrea, a city with a serious and hardworking character, is suddenly transformed into a boiling cauldron of noise and festivity, flavours and heady sensations which involve not only the local inhabitants but all those who simply take part as spectators. Adhering to very precise rules, each battle is carried out in the piazzas of the city centre. Approximately 3500 orange throwers on foot are involved, divided into nine teams, and more than 30 carriages with throwers (each carrying at least 10 people). Over three days some 4000 quintals of citrus fruits are hurled, arriving from Regions in the South (and otherwise due to be destroyed, as a result of overproduction), with the cost completely borne by the protagonists in the battle. Those present at the Carnival never leave Ivrea disappointed: they carry with them thousands of emotions and memories which stay with them, encouraging them, one day, to return.
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