The places that inspired Cesare Pavese: a weekend in Santo Stefano Belbo, Piedmont, Italy

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"A vine that climbs on the back of a hill to affect up in the sky, is a familiar sight, but the curtains of the rows are a simple and profound magic door," wrote Cesare Pavese in the opening of the story "The Vine", taking the essence of his hometown, Santo Stefano Belbo. Today, those who come to visit this beautiful town site in the Langhe, a little more than twenty kilometers from Asti despite belonging to the province of Cuneo, precisely because it is often curious to discover the places Pavese. Exactly as happened to us, we decided to immerse ourselves in the atmosphere for a weekend of "The Moon and the Bonfires," the 1950 novel by Cesare Pavese, but also in those of many other stories of the writer, deeply attached to their land.
Any road runs through to get here, before reaching the village, across dozens of square miles of vineyards, all manicured. The magic begins when the traveler passes Pavese for these panoramic curves in the central hours of the day, and while not seeing people at work between the rows, note that they are in perfect order. That the culture of the vine is closely linked to the soul of this place, it also demonstrates the Latin phrase that appears on the coat of arms, granted to the commune in 1902 by King Vittorio Emanuele III, "Vitis Sancti Stephani Belbum to Life."
But before tasting a good glass of Moscato d'Asti or Asti Spumante wines in Santo Stefano Belbo is the largest manufacturer, we take a walk to discover the country. We note immediately, high on the hill of Santa Libera, the picturesque ruins of a square tower, of which we learn that it is the contemporary of Dante, and was destroyed centuries later, as the castle, razed almost to the ground by the Spanish in 1635 and by contending that if the Austrians.
Visiting the Church of the Sacred Heart Parish, whose bright colors stand out against the green background of the hill, we find that the history of the parish is interwoven with the works of Pavese. In fact, the ancient parish church of Saints James and Christopher, which dates from the fourteenth century and is the first parish in the country, after centuries troubled in 1785 was "in a ruinous state," to be slowly restored over the next hundred years almost . In 1886 there was even placed a new organ and the year after the facade has been rebuilt, but in 1926 the functions were transferred to the new parish church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, while the old parish church became the seat of Caesar's Foundation Pavese. The City Library is located there, Brotherhood Square, and those who enter, can now make an excursion into the world of cultural Pavese, thanks to photos and copies of manuscripts exhibited on the walls, as well as documents and objects viewed inside.
During our walk we also visited the Romanesque Abbey of San Gaudenzio, which is said to be a former temple of Jupiter, as well as being a former Benedictine monastery, and we got to the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snow Hill site on Moncucco .
Returning, we visited the birthplace of Cesare Pavese, the Museum Pavesi. At the foot of the hill Gaminella, so dear to the writer, just two hundred meters from his birthplace, we decided to stop at Ristorante La BOSSOLASCO, taking advantage of the convenience of the ten guestrooms. "We opened in 1997, after having restored the family farm," he says Mr. Maurice Barbero who runs the restaurant with his wife Elisa met us in the room. We discover at once that are the pride of the local dishes with truffles and mushrooms, although we enjoy them in their season back in a few months.
We start our dinner with the traditional raw meat with a knife joke, veal with tuna sauce, a pie with the fondue asparagus, peppers stuffed with tuna and cottage cheese salad and the rooster, roasted, boned and stuffed with beans. We follow this rich starter from the first prepared with homemade pasta, and flour mill of the Marine Biological Cossano Belbo. Take noodles with mushrooms, ravioli Plin highly typical, potato gnocchi with Castelmagno and maltagliati with leek and gorgonzola. In the second choice of delicacies such as we are divided between the shin of veal baked rabbit with black olives, leg of duck with honey and Muscat, Muscat and capocollo with plums, as well as the lamb in the oven and the classic and very good Piedmontese mixed fry. Accompany these delicacies with excellent wines of the Langhe and Monferrato, before surrendering to the temptation of the luscious desserts, such as bunet, the hazelnut cake, a nougat parfait, creme brulee and the chocolate salami ...

Bertha Frances

FOR INFORMATION:
www.santostefanobelbo.it
www.labossolasca.it
The restaurant BOSSOLASCO
Via Robin, 22 St. Stephen Belbo (CN)
0141/840613