Granges - Costa Piana Hill: in the footsteps of the Glorious Repatriation (GRV)

18th stage of the Itinerary known at the European level mainly for the enormous historical importance it represents, as it celebrates and retraces the feat of the "Glorious Repatriation." This is one of the most important events in the history of the Waldensians: in 1689, Pastor Henri Arnaud, starting from Lake Geneva (Switzerland), led a thousand men 250 km across Savoy to regain their homeland after the exile they had suffered for religious reasons, reaching as far as Bobbio Pellice in Val Pellice. The Italian section of the itinerary, which can be covered in 6 days and is 110 km long, has its starting point on the French border at the Little Moncenisio Pass, crosses Val Susa and Val Chisone, and ends in the town of Bobbio Pellice in Val Pellice. The ascent to the Colle di Costapiana is rather long, but very gradual. From the Colle, where the Waldensians first glimpsed the longed-for native mountains, take trail No. 326 eastward (in the first part open to off-road motorcycles), skirting the Pomerol brook until you reach the now ruined houses of the Rif. hamlet (h. 1.15 from the Colle). D opposite the first Rif house, with a sundial from 1877, take the path to the right that heads upward indicated by a wooden arrow with No. 4. When you reach a cart track, descend gently to the hamlet of Allevè and, always following the signs No. 4, arrive in Pragelato hamlet of Grange. (0.45 from Rif).