Graziano-Ruta: Sacred Art, Ironworking and Landscape

Sacred Art between Ruta and Graziano

The character of Graziano-Ruta is shaped by sacred art, traces of earlier work and a distinctive landscape. This connection is particularly tangible in Ruta, a hamlet of Mongrando. There, the Oratorio dei Santi Defendente e Grato stands on the municipal road towards Donato. It houses a painting of the Madonna of Loreto with Saints Grato and Defendente, created in 1643 and bearing the signature of the painter Romano Padovano.

Graziano and Ruta are also linked by shared historical references. The Oratorio dei Santi Defendente e Carlo was built in several phases to serve Ruta and Graziano. Graziano is also home to a 19th-century painting depicting the Immaculate Conception of Mary. The name of the Oratorio dei Santi Defendente e Grato refers to Grato and Defendente, who also appear in the painting together with the Madonna of Loreto. The painting and the cross date from different periods. In 1926, a cement cross was erected in Graziano in memory of the ancestors. The sacred heritage is thus spread across oratories and individual works in Ruta and Graziano.

Traces of Work and Everyday Life

In Graziano, small details recall technological and social changes. Ceramic insulators from the early electrical grid are visible on a house numbered 66. Graziano also has a water wheel, which attracts interest as a remnant of the past. The primary school building in the Graziano and Ruta area served both hamlets. The technological traces in Graziano range from the ceramic insulators on house 66 to the water wheel.

The Fucina Morino is the last surviving example of these small production units. Inside are the machines and tools used before industrialisation. The Ecomuseo della Lavorazione del Ferro in Mongrando offers guided tours as well as one-day educational programmes throughout the year, including excursions and workshops. The theme of ironworking thus extends from visible individual artefacts to more in-depth activities.

Routes, Events and Landscape

A themed ironworking route connects Netro with Mongrando. In addition, during the tenth edition of Mongrando in Alto held in 2025, a running and recreational walking route passed through Mongrando’s upper hamlets of San Michele, Graziano Ruta and San Lorenzo. The event was therefore also connected with the hamlets that shape the area’s historical and cultural character.

In the surrounding area, the Riserva Naturale della Bessa provides a landscape counterpart to the buildings and traces of work. A rolling plateau with characteristic accumulations of rounded stones shapes the landscape there. In Graziano-Ruta, sacred art, traces of work and the landscape of the nearby Riserva Naturale della Bessa alternate.

More Destinations

Torazza, Crevacuore, Portula, Salussola, Donato, Solesio, Bioglio, Muzzano

For the higher-level travel overview: Biella.