Vico Canavese

Access

Vico Canavese can be reached from Ivrea - a railway junction connected to Turin and Milan - by going up the Valchiusella provincial road; the mountainous terrain suggests the use of the car to reach the village, while local public transport offers seasonal connections.

Introduction

Vico Canavese is located in Valchiusella, within the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont. The village is located on the first slopes of the Torretta delle Cime, surrounded by meadows and woods, especially chestnut and birch, making its landscape emblematic of the upper Canavese valley. Until 2019, it was an autonomous municipality, then it merged with Meugliano and Trausella to form the new municipality of Valchiusa, of which it is the chief town.

Description

The geographical location along the valley has favoured human settlements since prehistoric times, as attested by rock carvings on the orographic left banks of the valley. Vico Canavese appears as a mountain nucleus rich in historical evidence, with paved streets and characteristic stone fountains; the dwellings sometimes overlook the voton, vaulted subways typical of the historic centre.
On the ridge above the village are the diorite quarries, whose stone was also used in valuable works such as part of the colonnade of Via Roma in Turin in 1933. Mining activities and the predominance of forest and agricultural resources have historically been the cornerstone of the local economy. Today, the so-called permanent meadows - areas maintained without ploughing and periodic sowing - constitute an ecological resource that is valorised both for agro-livestock production and as a tool to promote tourism.
The origins of the hamlet are intertwined with significant events, including the episode of 15 October 1944, when partisans and civilians were shot and the town hall set on fire during a round-up: these events are commemorated by monuments and memorial plaques.
The local culture is manifested in religious and civic traditions, with the celebration of the patron saint and the memory of ancient agricultural practices: the community keeps alive its relationship with the mountains, exalting local biodiversity and the rituals of transhumance. There is no shortage of festivals and occasions for gathering, often linked to the production cycles of the meadows and livestock farming.
The Vico Canavese territory offers a network of hiking trails that connect villages and alpine pastures in the Valchiusella; some routes are of low difficulty and suitable for families, others wind through woods and glacial lakes, offering cultural and naturalistic cues for trekking. These itineraries contribute to a slow fruition of the territory, also allowing reconnection with the nearby centres through a road system at the bottom of the valley.

Information

Area: 11.41 km²
Altitude: 274m
Maximum elevation:
Number of inhabitants: 830 (as of 2018, pre-merger data)
Name in dialect: Vi Canavèis
Name of inhabitants: Vicesians/Canaveseans
Patron Saint: San Lorenzo, celebrated on 10 January
Neighbouring communes: Brosso, Castellamonte, Castelnuovo Nigra, Champorcher, Donnas, Lessolo, Pontboset)
Website: www.comune.valchiusa.to.it