Hike among the ancient hamlets of Druogno

The itinerary develops between the villages of Druogno, Coimo and Albogno which have been united into a single municipality since 1928.
The starting point of this excursion is the Druogno station of the Domodossola-Locarno line of the century-old Vigezzina-Centovalli railway.

The Vigezzo valley, home of painters and chimney sweeps, has seen the phenomenon of emigration over the centuries, an example of which is the singular story of Giovanni Giacomo Ravelli, a chimney sweep, who emigrated to Holland. Ravelli settled his family abroad, but in the last years of his life he returned to his home town, Albogno, and had a chapel built in 1671. This was restored in 2015 by his Dutch descendants: all Ravelli in Holland descend from Giovanni Giacomo Ravelli and Maria Maglini from Albogno!
The itinerary runs along the Cui creek and reaches the town of Sagrogno where, not far from the San Rocco oratory, there is a thousand-year-old chestnut tree. The route continues crossing the Western Melezzo and reaches the town of Albogno with its characteristic houses: majestic residences with stone roofs and rich decorations. By crossing a path immersed in chestnut and beech woods, the trail reaches Coimo with its characteristic terraces. Here, since time immemorial, the traditional pan biava of Ossola (oat bread of Ossola) has been cooked: the black bread of Coimo, made with rye flour.

The itinerary partly follows the route of the ancient Via del Mercato. This route connects Domodossola and Locarno and, in ancient times, it was the route taken by the people of the valley who, driven by the impossible food self-sufficiency, reached the city markets to stock up on all those products that came from the fertile plain.

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