Chrizia Affittacamere is about 20 minutes' drive from Val Borbera.
Val Borbera is a valley in the Ligurian Apennines formed by the Borbera stream, a tributary of the Scrivia. It is located in the Novese area, the southeasternmost portion of Piedmont on the border with Liguria. The municipalities of Cabella Ligure and Carrega Ligure are the only ones in the Piedmont region to border with Emilia-Romagna, together with Fabbrica Curone in the nearby Curone valley.
During the period of the Imperial Feuds, the upper valley was ruled for a long time by important Genoese families, before coming under the control, this time the entire valley, of the Ligurian Republic. It is now part of Piedmont while retaining strong linguistic and cultural ties with Liguria.
In the lower valley, the vegetation consists of alder, elm, hazelnut, oak, chestnut and acacia trees that are not native to the valley; mulberry is also cultivated, now replaced by cereal and fodder crops. In the upper valley, the vegetation is characterised by beech, oak and chestnut with sporadic occurrences of larch and conifers. The fauna consists of foxes, hares, squirrels and there are traces of Italic wolves. In considerable numbers, the presence of wild boars, or porcupines, subject to hunting in the winter period.
Also due to the constant depopulation of the valley, fallow deer, artiodactyl mammals of the Cervidae family, are abundant. Also due to repopulation policies in the 1990s, the presence of common vipers is reported.
The avifauna includes the little egret, the night heron, the little gull, the snipe and the sandpiper, the yellow wagtail, the wagtail, the little ringed plover and the kingfisher; 70% of the Apennine avifauna is present in the valley.
Cascata Del Gordena
This valley is part of the culturally homogeneous territory of the Four Provinces, characterised among other things by common customs and a repertoire of very ancient music and dance.
Val Borbera and the adjoining Spinti valley having been borderland for about eight hundred years, there are ten castles, some still in good condition.
In Val Borbera, the remains of a dozen or so ‘ghost’ villages can still be seen, small communities that were depopulated between the 1950s and 1960s following the migration of their residents to neighbouring towns richer in opportunities, including above all Genoa.
Administratively, Val Borbera is divided between the municipalities of:
Albera Ligure
Borghetto di Borbera
Cabella Ligure
Cantalupo Ligure
Carrega Ligure
Mongiardino Ligure
Roccaforte Ligure
Rocchetta Ligure
Stazzano
Vignole Borbera
The typical products of the Val Borbera are:
The typical cheese of Val Borbera and Val Curone is montebore, of very ancient origins, made from cow's or sheep's milk, shaped like a stepped cone, said to have inspired wedding cakes.
pasta with pesto
the white fagiolane, similar to the white Spanish bean from which they derive, but larger.
the Quarantina potato, especially the Quarantina Bianca Genovese variety, which has a light-coloured skin and a fine, compact texture, and the Prugnona variety, with a smooth skin and two-tone purplish-red to creamy-white and fine texture, whose cultivation began in the 18th century.
the black truffle of particular indigenous quality and the white truffle used for the production of truffle eggs.
porcini mushrooms.
chestnuts.
hazelnuts.
carla apple, indigenous to the Borbera valley, with its sour and fragrant flavour
timorasso, an indigenous white wine.
honey, especially millefiori and acacia honey.
game: pheasants, hares, pheasant, partridges, goats, fallow deer, wild boar, rabbit.
cured meats: head in a box, raw ham, pig's trotter and bacon
Trout are also fished in the Borbera stream. Desserts are very few and simple, to mention the Greek salami or sweet salami, a layer of sponge cake spread with jam or chocolate, rolled and served in slices like a salami. Typical dishes are:
rice and milk ravioli, large ravioli whose filling is rice cooked in milk flavoured with eggs, cheese and some spices, served with cheese and fresh cream, they are typical of Cosola di Cabella Ligure
rice with violet petals
chestnut trofie in walnut sauce
green corzetti with peas in montebore cream sauce
montebore risotto
goat and beans
tagliatelle with hare sauce
cotechino and beans
corzetti with mushrooms
taglierini with hare sauce
The entire length of the valley is crossed by the provincial road 140 ‘di val Borbera’ and can be reached from the A7 motorway, via the Vignole-Arquata exit.
The length of the valley: is 45.7 km from Stazzano to Capanne di Carrega (Carrega Ligure) and the maximum height: is 1,700 m of Mount Ebro and Mount Chiappo, the highest hamlet: is Capanne di Cosola (Cabella Ligure), 1,500 m high
Monte Ebro Capanne Di Cosola
The Borbera Valley is rich in CAI (Italian Alpinie Club) hiking trails and is frequented throughout most of the year by trekking and mountain biking enthusiasts, while in summer the Borbera torrent is populated by bathers seeking refreshment from the summer heat. To this end, an equipped area of about 10,000 square metres has recently been set up, including a hut with bar and Tak service, in the spectacular setting of the Strette del torrente Borbera (Borbera Torrent Narrows).
Strette di Pertuso
source: wikipedia
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