Chiappera

Chiappera is the farthest inhabited hamlet of the Upper Valmaira, incredibly well preserved thanks to a forty-year landscape obligation and a complete restoration of its buildings in full respect of local architecture. The village (1,650m a.s.l.) is dominated by the incredible quarzitic spur of the Castello-Provenzale group, a climber’s paradise and the village symbol. Covered with the characteristic green and yellow lichens of its siliceous surface, which change color when it rains or gets damp, this impressive rock becomes more slippery than soap and extremely dangerous.

The asphalt road continues for a brief distance and then becomes unpaved, leading to the Stroppia Falls on one side and at the foot of the Rocca Provenzale-Castello on the other, up to the Grange del Collet; from this point, you can reach the French border only on foot through the Colle del Maurin enjoying the views of the spectacular mountain crest which include the Sautron, the Chambeyron Group and the Maniglia, some over 3,000 meters high.

Chiappera is the starting point of a great number of day trips, tours and hikes: GTA, Mountains without frontiers, Roberto Cavallero path, Dino Icardi path, Tour of the Chambeyron, Percorsi Occitani. Encounters with the abundant wildlife of the area [including groundhogs, rock goats and roe deer] are frequent, especially along the paths between the Colle Greguri and the Monte Maniglia.