The Montiglio Romanic Race is a repeated Nordic Walking event taking place at the weekends in October when the Montiglio Monferrato Regional Truffle Fair is running.
It’s open to everyone who wants to explore this corner of Monferrato, dotted with a wealth of historic buildings, and Romanesque churches in particular. This route follows the one used by the walkers, which means the paths are narrow in some sections. They’re easy to go over by bike, but some care is required.
The route starts from Codana Lake, a little over 2 km from the centre of Montiglio Monferrato in the Province of Asti. It has sports facilities and visitors can engage in various leisure activities. For example, there’s birdwatching at the lake as well as a botanical route to learn about the more than 50 recorded plant species, illustrated and described on audio guides. The pool area has an open-air Olympic-size pool, children’s pool, beach area, beach volleyball court and a grassy area with a snack bar. There’s a play area for kids and entertainment activities are organised at the weekends. The site also has a hotel, coworking space and motor home parking, with two large car parks.
By starting from the lake, you'll be able to enjoy these services at the end of your trip. The route goes in the direction of Asti. After the roundabout, carry straight on for about 500 m then turn right onto the track and head up to the Montiglio cemetery (a tough climb of about 1 km). Stopping here to see the Romanesque church of San Lorenzo is a must. When you get to Montiglio, the route heads towards Turin from Piazza Regina Margherita. On the right at the stop sign in the square there’s a lovely sundial. The village of Montiglio isn’t short on sundials, nestled among the houses is a record number of more than 50, nearly all restored. They remind us of how time used to be measured, varying from location to location according to the geographical position.
After a few metres, turn right and then left onto the downhill road, then left again onto the track. The long descent leads to the climb to the hamlet of Carboneri, with its medieval country church of Sant’Antonio Abate. Keep straight on and turn left after a few metres, heading down a tarmac road that becomes a dirt one further on. At the bottom of the valley, turn left again and continue until you reach a right turn that climbs up to the SP 34. Follow the GPX track off the tarmac here, returning to the track a couple of times as you stay on the trail that leads to Piovà Massaia. A brief stop in front of the parish church of Santi Pietro e Giorgio is recommended here. This admirable example of the baroque is attributed to architect Benedetto Alfieri of the court of Savoy.
Piovà is also famous for its traditional country Fragrant Mint Festival, given mint is still grown here with care. At the end of May every year, when flowering is most intense, the Pro Loco tourism organisation prepares dishes based on this aromatic herb and of course the classic mojito cocktail, made with local peppermint, as well as the local wine.
The route continues to the hamlet of Gallareto and then the Church of Sant’Andrea in Borgata Casaglio in Cerreto d’Asti.
Come down from the church and back to the crossroads you turned off for the visit. A little path can be seen near the lamppost, the beginning of a short single track that heads down among the woods to a farm track which in turn leads to Cerreto d’Asti. Here, turn left on Via Inserra, following it until you turn right onto a track that leads down to Via Canneto in Cerreto d’Asti. Cross the SP 458 in order to head towards the hamlet of San Pietro in Piovà Massaia. Continue towards the hamlet of Banengo di Montiglio. From here, follow the short SP 34 and then the SP 22 to return to Montiglio. As soon as you reach the village and before the Casa di Riposo on Via Cocconito, turn left onto Via Vittorio Emanuele II, coming off onto another track on the left at the sharp bend. This leads to the bottom of the valley, on the SP 34. Here, after passing the railway underpass, turn left onto the SP 34 in order to return to the little Codana Lake in Montiglio Monferrato.