The itinerary starts from Arvogno, in the town of Toceno, crosses the high bridges on Eastern Melezzo and Rio Verzasco and follows the ancient mule track that climbs the slope in a succession of woods, pastures and meadows, in a landscape among the richest and most suggestive of the Valley of Painters. This ring itinerary allows to cross the pastures of Alpe Verzasca, Alpe Borca, Alpe Pronchincio, Alpe Villasco and Alpe I Motti.
Between Pioda di Crana and Pizzo di Fontanalba, sheltered by a small basin, there is the ancient chapel showing a painting of Saint Pantaleon on its front. Pantaleon was a medic, beheaded by order of Emperor Diocletian in 305, the century of the cruel persecution against the Christian. A legend in Vigezzo explains the reason why the valley people dedicated a chapel to Saint Pantaleon: during a morning in August, a shepherd went uphill with his mules towards Fontalba pass and on its way he met four women who warned him: “a bad wind is blowing on the mountain today!”, but the shepherd did not believe them, the sky was clear. Once he reached the pass though, the sky became menacing and he understood he bumped into four witches. One always had to be careful in Val Vigezzo, both ugly and beautiful women could be witches (strii in dialect) and there were also wizards (planduj in dialect). The rain began, thunders, lightnings and the scream of the wind were calling the witches to gather from their caves of Crana and among them there were also the four witches of the morning! These witches rushed against the shepherd, who fell on his knees and prayed to his saint protector, Saint Pantaleon, who saved him. The shepherd, whose name was indeed Pantaleon, built a chapel to his saint where there were the marks left by his knees. Once the building was completed, the witches went to bed and died on the same night!
Nearby the Chapel of Saint Pantalon, along the mule track, there is a huge stone with a carving that resembles a cave. In Arvogno and in its nearby towns there was a legend saying that the witches used to dance during their sabbath: the dances were so wild the marks of their heads are still visible today! Other rocks near the chapel have some marks that could be ancient cups and rings consumed by the time or, simply, marks of natural origin. In popular fantasy these marks were explained as signs left by the devil or by tragic events like those left by a shepherd’s hands when a huge witch wanted to toss him from the Piudàa (Pizzo della Balma).
The itinerary proceeds towards lake Panelatte, a small lake characterized by the presence of Eriophori: an evergreen grass with unique “spikes” covered by some sort of white down which looks like cotton. The name of the lake might come from a habit of shepherds, who stopped on its banks to eat a short but restoring meal with bread (pane in Italian) and milk (latte in Italian).
Traveled on: Jul 9th, 2023
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