Trarego, Viggiona and Cheglio
How to get
By train: the nearest station is Verbania-Pallanza. From the station buses run to Intra and from there to Cannero-Riviera.
About
The municipality of Trarego Viggiona comprises the three small villages of Trarego, Viggiona and Cheglio, which lie on the slopes of Monte Carza (1,116 m ) high above Cannero Riviera. Surrounded by meadows and woods, the villages have an enviable panorama over Lake Maggiore.
You can explore this ancient rural world via the paths crisscrossing the woods. Look for the ronchi which were typical of the area; the dialect word refers to the terraces south of the villages, where the mild climate made it possible to grow grapes and pasture animals during the winter. Around all the villages you can see the so-called monti or stone outbuildings where the animals would once be kept in spring and autumn.
The three villages also have much of interest. The area around Trarego has several examples of industrial archaeology: mills for grinding cereals, a communal dairy and a primitive hydroelectric power station which in the early 20th century produced enough electricity to light the streets and houses of the village.
Worth a visit is the Old Church in Viggiona, a Romanesque building which has been designated a national monument, and which is linked to the new, Baroque parish church by a Via Crucis (Stations of the Cross) made in the 60s by students of the Stuttgart Academy of Art.
The tiny village of Cheglio will give you the intriguing atmosphere of an ancient rural settlement, with its narrow lanes just separating the old stone houses.