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PIANA CRIXIA
The Langhe di Piana Crixia
This area borders on the Langhe region of Piedmont.
The Langhe di Piana Crixia Regional Park protects this
unusual landscape of gorges with striking eroded clayey
and marly rock formations. They are unique in Liguria
and form waves of sand and clay on which pioneering
vegetation attempts to float. The park is crossed by
paths that can be followed on foot or mountain bike,
along the gorges and thick woods.
The views are sweeping and the spring flowers
spectacular: these include two varieties of wild orchid.
Rare and precious truffles
The area around Piana Crixia is home to the white
truffle, the most precious variety of the Langhe’s rare
and aromatic fruits of the earth. It is harvested
between September and December and accompanies
local dishes served in the area’s restaurants: meat
and vegetable ravioli, mushrooms, game and Dolcetto
wine.
Monumental trees beneath
the starry sky
The absence of artificial lights on the hills makes
it possible to see the night sky lit up by thousands
of stars and the blue moonlight. The area is home
to two monumental trees: a 150-year old sweet
chestnut in Case Tappe, near the regional border,
and a 150-year old durmast in Case Nizzè, between
Lodisco and Gorra.
Piana Crixia
“Piana cum castro et capella”
...in other words, a plain with fortifications
and a chapel: this is how the town is described
in a document dated 991. The axes and stone
tools discovered in the area indicate that
the site was inhabited in Neolithic times,
and subsequently by the Ligurians and
Romans, who founded “Crixia”. Piana Crixia,
which currently has 800 inhabitants, was
once part of the Marca Aleramica and was
subsequently divided between the rule of
Ligurian and Piedmontese lords.
The miraculous
Fungo del Collio
The most famous “personality”
of the Langhe di Piana Crixia
is the “stone mushroom”:
an ophiolite boulder that has
protected the underlying soil
from erosion and is
suspended on a thin layer of
rock. It is 14 metres high
and weighs 260,000
kilograms. The “mushroom”
is the subject of many local
legends, which range from
the Deluge to Napoleon, who
is said to have tried in vain
to take it back to France.