Vacci: cycle paths, rural landscapes and history around Cavour

Around Vacci, the municipality of Cavour reveals a combination of rural lanes, cycle routes and historic sites. The different route lengths and themes allow you to plan your trip around nature, regional culture and sport-oriented excursions.

Cycle paths through landscapes and history

The Strada delle Mele can also be used on horseback at a trot or gallop. It runs along gravel paths and through wooded sections, including a crossing of the Chisone stream. For walks and bicycle tours through nature, it offers a total of 63 kilometres of cycle paths between 14 municipalities.

A 46.2-kilometre cycling circuit around Rocca di Cavour runs through Vacci and Castellani. On this route, 27.3 kilometres are on quiet roads. The paved roads in the plain of Cavour, shaped by the Rocca, are also used as quiet cycle paths.

Castellani-Vacci is connected to the other hamlets of the municipality by a network of old rural paths; this network extends for more than 100 kilometres. The old paths connecting the hamlets of Cavour are considered possible fragments of Roman centuriation axes.

Rural character and regional specialities

The agricultural landscape in the municipality of Cavour includes extensive fields of fodder crops and cereals. Specialised cultivation includes long rows of fruit trees. More than 400 agricultural holdings reflect the area's agricultural character. Old votive pillars often shape the landscape along the rural paths around Cavour's hamlets.

Rural festivals in Cavour's hamlet villages help preserve farming traditions. In the municipality, Tuttomele is a national market and exhibition dedicated to fruit growing, agritourism, handicrafts, local trade and regional cuisine. It takes place during the first two weeks of November. The Razza Piemontese cattle breed is also part of the region's identity: specialised farms raise these cattle, which are associated with the production of “carne di Cavour”.

Rocca di Cavour and historic sites

In the area around Vacci, Rocca di Cavour is a 47-hectare rocky outcrop within a 71-hectare nature reserve. The Rocca is designated both as a Site of Community Importance (SCI) and as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC). At this site, rock carvings, paintings, and Celtic and Roman finds preserve various traces of the past; the remains of a castle are also preserved on the summit.

At the foot of Rocca di Cavour stands Santa Maria Abbey. In the area around Vacci, the Pilone della Rocca, built in 1931, also commemorates the area's religious tradition. The pilone is 15 metres high and houses a statue of the Madonna made of white Carrara marble.

Archaeology at the Museo di Caburrum

The Museo Archeologico di Caburrum preserves finds from the Roman city of Forum Vibii Caburrum. This city was founded between 45 and 44 BC by Caio Vibio Pansa Cetroniano. Since 2008, the museum has been housed in former monastery rooms that were once used for wine production. Roman urban history and the former agricultural use of the rooms thus come together in a single museum site.

More destinations

More destinations: Ceresole Reale, Cambiano, San Raffaele, San Giuseppe, Beinasco, San Giusto Canavese, Prali, Arignano

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