Sordevolo: Passion Play, Mountain Landscape and Village Culture

Mountain Landscapes and Trails

Sordevolo lies below the Monte Mars Reserve and also encompasses the southern slopes of Monte Mucrone. Forests, pastures and scattered mountain huts shape the landscape; a network of trails connects these elements. At the same time, the town lies on the Cammino di San Carlo, which branches off from the Via Francigena near Lake Viverone. When choosing accommodation, you can therefore consider culture, nature and hiking as different focuses for your trip.

The Passion Play and Historic Sites

The Passione di Sordevolo recreates a small section of Palestine, including the Upper Room, the Sanhedrin, Gethsemane, Herod’s Palace, Pilate’s Praetorium and Calvary, and is performed by the entire village community every five years. The Museo della Passione is permanently housed in the choir and sacristy of the 17th-century Church of Santa Marta.

Villa Cernigliaro is a historic residence from the late 19th century commissioned by the Vercellone family. During the Fascist period, it was a meeting place for opposition intellectuals and politicians, including Natalia Ginzburg, Norberto Bobbio, Cesare Pavese, Luigi Einaudi, Benedetto Croce, Luigi Pirandello and Eugenio Montale.

The Church of Sant’Ambrogio preserves a polychrome marble altar from 1776, created by Francesco Olgiati in the 18th century, as well as other marble altars and wooden sculptures. The Vercellone Palace Wool Mills Archive documents the history of a family business that operated internationally from 1730 to 1899.

La Trappa is a former Trappist monastery complex. Between 1796 and 1802, it was home to a Trappist community that had fled revolutionary France; the complex houses the Ecomuseo della Tradizione Costruttiva.

Festivals with a Regional Character

Sordevolo’s Fiera Autunnale takes place every year in October and coincides with the tradition of transhumance. More than 500 Pezzata Rossa d’Oropa cattle are exhibited there, and you can view them up close. The Fiera also includes an area dedicated to cheese and butter made from the milk of this breed.

The Mercatino degli Angeli has taken place every year since 2002 on six Sundays between November and December. Together with the Fiera Autunnale, this market shows how strongly events and local products shape Sordevolo’s annual rhythm.

Hikes Around Sordevolo

An approximately two-hour hike starts at the Sordevolo amphitheater, passes through the town to the old washhouses and follows an ancient mule track through the forest to San Grato before returning to Sordevolo. Another trail leads uphill along the Roggia Molinaria to forests and gorges shaped by the power of water.

Food and Landscape

Slow Food Travel Montagne Biellesi connects food and landscape. The associated Associazione per l’Ecomuseo Valle Elvo e Serra is based at Via Bagneri 2, 13817 Sordevolo (BI). This gives you a destination where natural surroundings, crafts, historical memory, markets and regional products exist in close proximity to one another.

More Destinations for Planning Your Trip

Other places you can include in your plans are Netro, Bielmonte, Graglia, Simone, Viverone, Tollegno, Biella and Bellaria.

For the higher-level travel overview: Biella.