Villar Pellice: Waldensian History and Winter Mountain Sports
Accommodation in Villar Pellice
Cultural Sites and Waldensian History
The Ecomuseo Feltrificio Crumière preserves historic textile machinery and a factory archive. The factory archive documents the company’s socioeconomic life. Tours of the Ecomuseo Feltrificio Crumière are guided. The site thus provides a concrete insight into preserved records of working life and the company’s history.
File:Villar Pellice - Ecomuseo feltrificio Crumiere - 2023-09-30 23-30-44 003.jpg
Photo: Ruparch via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
The Tempio valdese di Villar Pellice has a pyramid-shaped pointed bell tower. The tower is considered unique in the Waldensian Valleys. The Waldensian church of Villar Pellice is one of the churches established in Piedmont after the Waldensians joined the Protestant Reformation. These churches gained civil and political freedoms in 1848, after the Wars of Religion and the restriction of the Waldensians to the Waldensian Valleys.
At the center of the hamlet of Ciarmis in Villar Pellice, a small stone building with a distinctive arch has stood for several centuries. The arch projects from the slate roof and points to the building’s former function as a parish meeting and notice hall. The Tempio del Ciarmis served the hamlet’s community as a place of worship, a primary school and a hall for church meetings. Its former use therefore encompassed religious, educational and community functions.
In the settled area of Villar Pellice, there are interesting old and newly created sundials. They complement the historic buildings with distinctive features of their own within the town.
Nature by the River
The Stazioni di Myricaria germanica protects one of the last regional populations of the rare tamarisk of alpine riverbeds, Myricaria germanica. The focus is therefore on a plant species whose scientific name also forms part of the name of the protected station.
At the Rio Cassarot in Villar Pellice, there is an ecologically unaltered environment considered particularly suitable for fish life. The riverside environment thus represents a distinct natural feature within the town, without implying any specific use.
Hiking and Cycling Routes
The Anello delle Valli Valdesi is a circular hiking trail of approximately 120 kilometers comprising eight stages and passing through Villar Pellice. The eight stages divide the circular route into individual sections, making the route description easy to follow when planning a multi-stage hike.
The Upslowtour Anello 5 degli Invincibili circular route leads from Villar Pellice over broad bends on the slope of Indritto to the wild Vallone degli Invincibili. The name of the Vallone degli Invincibili derives from historical events involving the Waldensians.
The Sentiero del Picchio can be traversed with snowshoes or ridden by mountain bike. The trail is therefore explicitly described as suitable for two different forms of travel: snowshoes in the cold season and mountain biking.
The La via dei pastori cycle path runs through Parco Flissia in Villar Pellice.
Winter Mountain Sports
If you are planning mountain sports during the colder months, the Rifugio degli Invincibili offers mountain sports enthusiasts opportunities for ski mountaineering, snowshoeing and winter mountaineering. Ski mountaineering refers to mountain sports using skis, snowshoeing to traveling with snowshoes, and winter mountaineering to mountaineering in the cold season. These three terms describe different forms of mountain sports at the Rifugio degli Invincibili.
Other destinations at the same level: Sant'antonino Di Susa, Cuorgnè, Sauze Di Cesana, Ceres, Bobbio Pellice, Bruzolo, Susa, Claviere
To the higher-level travel overview: Turin.
