The history of Piedicavallo

Welcome to Piedicavallo! Piedicavallo is located at the head of the Cervo Valley, in the province of Biella in the Piedmont region, bordering Val Sesia and Valle del Lys in the Aosta Valley. It is located at an altitude of 1050 metres and has 188 residents. Its municipal area includes, in addition to the valley stretch that descends from the Lago della Vecchia (Old Woman’s Lake) and is crossed by the Cervo torrent, the Irogna, Mologna and Chiobbia valleys, along which flow the first three major tributaries of the main torrent. The only hamlet in the municipality is Montesinaro.

The name of the town is said to derive from the fact that it was the last settlement in the valley that could be reached on horseback; further upstream, it was necessary to continue on foot. Even more probably, considering the name in local dialect is “Pedcavall”, it referred to the town’s position at the foot of the mountain.

The town, like the other settlements in the area, was initially a mountain pasture and only began to have a permanent resident population around the 15th century. Although it is not possible to trace the earliest settlements in the area, we know that Piedicavallo is reported as being permanently inhabited, on a stable basis “for the first time in documents in the list of the rents of Bishop Lombardo della Torre”, in the early 14th century. Its territory depended on Andorno Micca, from which it was separated, along with the rest of the upper valley, in 1694, when the municipality of “Valle” was created, based in Campiglia Cervo. Following a new separation, Piedicavallo obtained its own municipal autonomy on 14 March 1700. The new municipality also included Montesinaro, Rosazza and Beccara. Rosazza became a separate municipality in 1906 and included the hamlet of Beccara.

Piedicavallo and Montesinaro, as well as the entire Upper Cervo Valley, are characterised by a long history of emigration. The most common trade for the men of the valley was that of “pica pere”, the stonemasons who worked granite, the “syenite” of Balma. A trade that brought them fortune and fame: “in the 16th century, master stonemasons from the valley are documented as having contributed to the construction of Milan Cathedral”.

The practice of seasonal emigration of the men of the town, who moved for many months of the year within Italy or abroad to work on building sites, was a constant aspect of the local economy until the early- 20th century. Some men and their families left the town permanently to settle in other parts of Italy, Europe and the world. Today, many people are in search of their origins and rediscover distant relatives thanks to hereditary family names.

The women who remained in the town provided for the sustenance of the family, did all the jobs related to livestock breeding and mountain agriculture, transporting their products in panniers to neighbouring towns, villages and valleys for sale or for trade. They also performed the heavy task of transporting the heavy bundles of granite, the “syenite” of Balma.

The new ideas with which the valley dwellers came into contact abroad laid the foundations for a series of collectively useful initiatives such as the creation of the kindergarten and primary schools, as well as the Regina Margherita theatre and a mutual aid society, the latter founded in 1872. The 150th anniversary of its foundation was celebrated in 2022.

The early-20th century saw the highest peak in population in three centuries of municipal history: in 1906, Piedicavallo and Montesinaro counted 1872 residents.

Since the late-20th century, the economy has been linked to tourism. Today’s tourist flows have given Piedicavallo an opportunity for new demographic and economic development, with various services dedicated to the accommodation of Italian and international visitors who love this fascinating rural and mountain environment. You can now continue your tour of the town by visiting the places of worship in Piedicavallo.