The profile of Serra d'Ivrea, the largest glacial moraine in Europe, appears from afar as a low plateau with a perfectly horizontal profile. Exploring it by bicycle you will discover that there is no shortage of ups and downs and that the natural environments and the rural landscape are much more varied than one might expect at first glance. Birch woods, hay meadows and above all many  vineyards supported by dry stone walls run fast along traffic-free roads. We also cross Via Francigena, and numerous country chapels and churches that mark the route of the main pilgrimage route to Rome. In particular, the main destination of the day is the church of Santo Stefano di Sessano, and its Romanesque frescoes, which reveals the app Churches at Open Doors .

THE PATH

Ivrea is the starting point of our itinerary, a city worthy of a quick visit. If we come from the railway station, we avoid the city traffic with the cycle path just behind the tracks and cross the Dora along the beautiful cycle and pedestrian walkway.

Heir to the Roman Eporedia, Ivrea was a stopping place for pilgrims on Via Francigena and preserves important Roman and medieval memories. Those who are well trained will not struggle too much to climb up to Duomo and castle, built by the Savoy in the fourteenth century. Those who prefer to reserve energy for the ascent towards the Serra just follow the signs for the Sirio lake, facing with agile relationships the beautiful road that leads to the hills, to the most elegant outskirts of the city, between villas and gardens.

Sirio lake is one of the many small lakes of glacial origin, which is what remains of Balteo glacier, the same one that shaped Serra d'Ivrea during the many cold phases of our planet. A high bell tower and the clear profile of the nearby Serra announce Chiaverano, and it is upstream of the built-up area that we must look for the church of Santo Stefano .

  • In ancient times the church of Santo Stefano was in the center of one of the villages of the country, Sixty, later abandoned with the foundation of Villanova di Chiaverano. Built around the year XNUMX, it preserves cycle of frescoes datable to the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries, one of the oldest and most important documents of Romanesque painting in the Canavese area.

We pause for a moment on the panoramic hill on which the church stands, among pergola vineyards supported by the characteristic stone pillars, the "culigne", in a decidedly Mediterranean environment. And then back in the saddle, still uphill, but for a short time: from the farms of Casale Serra you are on the hillside, with continuous pleasant ups and downs on minimal roads, flanking high dry stone walls, scattered farmhouse and with beautiful views of themorainic amphitheater. Allow for rather slow times: the terrain is often asphalted, but also dirt and cobbled: definitely challenging on the bike!

We also slow down so as not to pass beyond oneanother Romanesque church, without taking a look at its original location. There church of Santa Maria Maddalena, documented from the XNUMXth century, stands on a rocky relief emerging from the ground. It retains the round apse with a stone "lose" roof and a massive bell tower on the facade.

Last stop, before closing the ring, the "Ciucarun”, as it is known in the area, is the lonely bell tower of the disappearance Romanesque church of San Martino, built in the XNUMXth century and demolished in the XNUMXth. Also of Paerno, the village of which it was a parish, there is no trace: it was already abandoned in the twelfth century.

A few more ups and downs and we face the long and winding descent towards the plain and Ivrea, not without a stop at theRomanesque church of Saints Peter and Paul, just before the medieval core of Bollengo.

Departure and arrival

Corso Costantino Nigra
Railway station
10015 Ivrea (TO)
Torino

Municipalities crossed

Bollengo, Burolo, Cascinette d'Ivrea, Chiaverano, Ivrea