On the traces of St. Peter, above the mountains of Liguria: a day in Masone

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The road that leads from the Po valley in Voltri, where he began the Ligurian Riviera di Ponente, is like a piece of music written from the heart: it starts quietly through a landscape of gently reassuring monotony that, when approaching the first hills of Monferrato, begins to take on more intense shades opening in a warm melody. Before reaching its peak in the harmony of the blue sea, through its most intense phase, where the notes draw strong feelings and emotions wild, just like the breathtaking heights of the Apennines, the stream that passes quickly clear the rocks, the dense vegetation of the woods where dark green is broken by the bright colors of typical Ligurian houses and white church tower of some ancient church.
To get to know these places, just leave the motorway at Masone, inhabited since the Lombard town and mentioned in historical documents as early as 991, now part of the Regional Natural Park of Beigua.
We start our walk from the village where the shrine of Our Lady of the Chapel. Legend has it that many centuries ago, a traveler named Macciò was attacked by bandits while on his way to Genoa from Masone. He hid in the bushes and was saved because he promised the Virgin that he would put in place a sacred image. The Sanctuary is mentioned for the first time in 1633 and his cult was reinforced because the plague epidemic of 1656-57, which made many victims on the Riviera, but spared Masone.
During our tour we visit several of the other beautiful churches, in addition to the parish church dedicated to Christ the King in 1920, the ancient Church of Santa Maria in Vezzulla, founded in the early twelfth century by Benedictine monks, the sixteenth-century Old Parish Church of Our Lady Taken, and beside it, the Convent of the Augustinians, the seventeenth century.
Reaching the Old Country, perched at a height of 432 meters, we are in the historic core of Masone, built in the early seventeenth century, with its typical terraced houses, built by the Marquis Grimaldi Ceba Lazarus, as "the habitat of Ferriera ". In fact, Masone was for centuries a town known for its intense and steel industry until the late nineteenth century there were many forges in the village of nails. The Museum's "Andrea Sheath", founded in 1980, which currently includes a wide variety of artifacts and historical objects, initially called the Museum of Archaeology Museum before becoming Nails and Iron.
Also in the historical center we visit the place where once stood the Castle Spinola. Today his memory is preserved by a large esplanade, as the fortress was razed in 1746 by the Austrians. On Mount Bric Geremia, located on the border with apples instead Jeremiah Strong, built in 1890 and recently restored.
After this nice tour, we move into the hamlet of San Pietro, where we visit the beautiful Church of St. Peter. And the Holy Apostle of Jesus accompanies us even during the epilogue of our delicious day school for St. Peter's Restaurant, located in the church square, in front with ample parking. "The restaurant has existed for about forty years," he told the ladies Angela and Lina, the owners. "Our grandfathers were brothers, but we found out only after relatives became friends working together at another place. From there the decision six years ago to create a restaurant, family style. It 's like home cooking has expanded to accommodate many guests. " While we take a drink, children who are with us, playing outdoors. We start with the rich dinner entree of the house: cold meats, omelette, onion pie, stuffed olives, zucchini flowers in batter, bruschetta, mushrooms, truffled Robiola cheese, potato salad. We continue enjoying a wide variety of early traditional of this region between Piedmont and Liguria, including ravioli typical household, pansotti with walnut sauce, green cheese gnocchi, gnocchi with pesto, the noodles with sauce and mushrooms fettuccine with zucchini and shrimp. When choosing the second we divide between roast beef and veal in tuna sauce, the top Genovese, roast veal, veal with porcini mushrooms, skewered shrimp and calamari, roasted guinea fowl, roast suckling pig and fried calamari. Let's water these delicacies with excellent wines from Piedmont such as Barbera and Dolcetto, Bonarda Oltrepò tasting also. The sweet end of this beautiful day we see the temptation of delicious desserts like apple pie, fruit tart, tiramisu, Catalan cream, panna cotta, a semifreddo with coffee and dessert served, in addition to mixed sorbets, ice cream and fruit salad with lots of strawberries.

Bertha Frances

FOR INFORMATION:
www.comune.Masone.ge.it
Ristorante San Pietro
Via San Pietro, 184 Masone (GE)
Tel: 010/9269271