Castagnito - Oratory of the Holy Spirit

The starting point of the route is the oratory of Santo Spirito in Castagnito: from here the walk begins uphill, on the long staircase to the top of the hill on which the oldest nucleus of Castagnito stands, with the parish church and - opposite - the oratory of the Holy Spirit. Beyond the beautiful Baroque facade in brick, a material that characterizes most of the historic buildings in Roero, we shouldn't expect works of particular value in the Oratorio del Santo Spirito. However, we will find a coherent set of Baroque altars, frescoes and furnishings that tell the story of two brotherhoods, one male and the other female. These are lay mutual assistance companies that played an important role in the community between the 17th and 19th centuries. Just outside the town, here we are among the vineyards, and with beautiful views over the Tanaro plain and the foothills of the Langhe. The Guarene castle attracts attention, and the Bric San Licerio is the best observation point of the Baroque residence of the Roero counts. In fact, once we reach the town, we will discover that from the alleys of the concentric it is barely visible, protected by high walls, reserved for guests of the luxury hotel into which it has recently been transformed. The descent towards Guarene is then embellished with beautiful contemporary art installations, thanks to the presence in the village of a headquarters of the Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation. We leave the village, a panoramic balcony over the Langhe, to resume our journey in the rural landscape and to discover Madernassa, a fraction of Vezza d'Alba, the birthplace of one of its most prestigious products, the Madernassa pear. A table reminds us of this, on the site where the progenitor pear tree was born.And Vezza d'Alba is that village nestled at the foot of a rocky outcrop, the Rocca, which in the past housed another and more ancient castle of the Roero counts. We see it on the ascent, behind us, while in front, on the ridge, are the baroque spirals of the San Rocco oratory, at the gates of Castagnito. In fact, we haven't gone too far from the village, and now we're going around it, walking through the Arneis and Favorita vineyards, to descend into the San Giuseppe valley, already in sight of the houses of the hamlet. We close the ring with the ascent to Castagnito, still among the vineyards, not without taking a last breath in the shade of an oak tree, at the solitary chapel of Santo Stefano del Maso.