Territory

The Biella area, a territory located in northwestern Piedmont, is an area to be discovered. The position, at equal distance between two important cities as Turin and Milan, allows Biella and the whole district to be the base for many interesting excursions. Textile homeland, boasts the oldest wool mills in Italy and some of the most prestigious brands in the world, including Ermenegildo Zegna and Loro Piana. In addition to the industrial tradition, you can find a variety of pristine natural landscapes, from mountains to “Baraggia”, from lakes to hills.

WOOL: WHEN A TERRITORY IDENTIFIES IN WHAT IT PRODUCES

If we follow the road that leads us from Biella to Borgosesia (nearby Valsesia) we are surely walking on the “Strada della Lana”. Fifty kilometers that plunge us into industrial archaeological finding, chimneys that bring us back in time to a century when the second industrial revolution made Biella the cradle of woolen mills in Italy. Once there was the most important wool market In the area in Borgosesia: traveling to this destination, you can feel immersed in our history and get aware of our present and past at the same time. Many of these mills resisted the war, the economic boom, globalization, financial crisis, and you can still hear the sirens announcing the end of a shift, the voices of the workers leaving after eight hours of work. Quality has resisted, as well as the desire of doing things well by using the best raw materials and wool, the most advanced machinery, which are the evolution of the first textile ones brought from Manchester by Sella family. In Valsessera, on the eastern border of Biella province, there’s “La Fabbrica Della Ruota” ( The wheel factory) with a permanent exhibition, illustrating the “wool world” and its ancient processing.

Pristine Nature

Biella is a quiet city, anyone can say it. It is immersed in pristine natural landscapes, from the moraine hills called “La Serra”, to the Alps that protect the territory until the north of the Baraggia, the flat part of the territory. For trekking lovers, mountain bikers, horseback riders and open air walks passionate, Biella is the perfect place for itineraries and excursions, such as “Biella Great Crossing” , a 200 km route among mountains, hills and small inhabited centers. The small Lake of Viverone meets the needs of water lovers with sports such as sailing, wake board, boating, water skiing and sport fishing.

Events

Lessona is full of initiatives and events, from sport to culture, food and wine. The territory morphology make Lessona hills the perfect area for mountain bike races and walks through the woods. On the first Sunday of October “La Prevostura”, a mountain-bike sports event which has become a classic, at the end of the season, takes place. It attracts many great names in the cycling world every year and it’s an almost unique opportunity for the champions to try out their physical conditions in sight of The French Riviera race event. The nature of the race feature a non-stop sequence of uphills and downhills from the beginning to the end. La Prevostura, the current farm company producing Lessona wine, was once an old farmhouse where merchants and travelers used to stop by. Nowadays it represents the ideal target for cyclists who, starting from the center of Lessona , must face the most challenging uphill of the day in a ride that is less than 1 km long. The designed itinerary allows you to retrace ancient roads frequented by farm wagons in the last centuries, has now become a suitable path for MTB excursions. The race crosses hills with woods, vineyards, pastures and farms; cyclists can reach ancient villages and small streams by going through one of the most evocative routes in Biella area. July is the month of events that take place in the party area near the sports hall. Among these stands out “Ratataplan”, an international festival of ethnic music, art and street theater that has attracted many visitors for over 20 years. At the end of September “Ronda del Bramaterra” is the event dedicated to wine lovers: it’s walk through the vineyards that allows people to taste products and wines of our land, organized by “Proloco di Masserano”.