Today we arrive at a different Alta Langa, one rich with stories and legends; it is a literary land, from Pavese to the peasant and partisan life experience of Fenoglio, a land for a journey into memory.
Both Beppe and Cesare entrust this territory with the roots of a life and reveal its core, the peasant identity and the stubborn pride of working its land.
In short, Alta Langa still amazes us; it is indeed a privileged destination!
Santo Stefano Belbo, which in 2008 celebrated the centenary of the writer’s birth, is closely tied to Cesare Pavese. Here we find his birthplace, which today houses his letters, books, photographs, reviews of his books, and theses from around the world, and the workshop of his friend, the carpenter Nuto. Very little remains of that Santo Stefano Belbo, the one described in “The Moon and the Bonfires”: a few houses and the Belbo river, which ceaselessly divides the two hills of Gaminella and Salto, where Pavese used to swim as a boy.
Visit the ancient and first parish church of Saints James and Christopher, dating back to the 14th century; nearby is the Cesare Pavese Study Center with an annexed library where his works can be consulted in reading rooms and through audiovisuals.
This is one of the most renowned areas for Moscato, a territory that spans 52 municipalities in the provinces of Cuneo, Asti, and Alessandria. Here, a Moscato with an aroma of excellent finesse and intensity is produced.
A tip for you: if you want to taste a memorable Alta Langa, go to the Marcalberto Winery and let me know what your taste buds tell you!
While Pavese traveled across Italy for life and work, Beppe Fenoglio, author of one of the finest novels of 20th-century Italian literature, La Malora, remained tied for life to Alba, his hometown. The partisan Johnny longed for its red roofs while fighting in the woods that kept him away.
For Fenoglio, the Tanaro river, Murazzano, San Benedetto Belbo, and Bossolasco are childhood places and the stage for his stories. They are the myth, the roots, the land.
Cascina del Pavaglione
One of the quintessential Fenoglian places is San Bovo di Castino, the Cascina del Pavaglione. This farmhouse, which serves as the backdrop for “La Malora”, has become, over time, an archetype that encapsulates that feeling of despair, poverty, resignation, the hardship of daily life: the feeling of a generation, his generation. Fenoglio deserves credit for having been able to give voice to it through the stories of his characters.
Besides Pavaglione, which takes us back to the days of La Malora, you can follow in the footsteps of “partisan Johnny” by visiting Mango and its surroundings; you can move to Murazzano where you will find the Beppe Fenoglio Literary Park; or retrace the path of Agostino, the protagonist of La Malora, and reach San Benedetto Belbo.
Looking at this Langa today, with its renowned wines, restored farmhouses, enogastronomic tourism, truffles, a dynamic and certainly enterprising Langa, a land of widespread wealth… it seems impossible that only a few decades ago it could have coincided with a depressed, harsh territory, difficult to live and work in, vividly described by Fenoglio in all his works.
