Visone: sights, history and trails

There is a characteristic geological formation throughout the area (Visone Formation), consisting of biocalcarenite deposits^[5] dating from the Miocene (Burdigaliano) and belonging to the Piedmontese Tertiary Basin, also known as stone of Visone, widely used since Roman times as an ornamental stone.

Among the oldest artefacts made with this material are some roman-aged stems and capitals, preserved at the Archaeological Museum of Acqui Terme, and the columns of the crypt of the Cathedral of the same city, built in early medieval times reusing more ancient materials.

After an apparent suspension of extractive activity in the 12th-XV centuries, the use of Visone stone resumes with new vigor from the end of the '400, to realize the central door of the Cathedral of Acqui, but also more and more widely to embellish churches and mansions of the nearby Acqui Terme. When, after 1572, Cardinal Michele Bonelli took over the direction of the works for the completion of the great monumental complex of Santa Croce of Bosco Marengo, commissioned by his uncle Saint Pius V, the use of the stone of Visone to create jambs and columns was such that on the heights of Visone a new quarry was opened specifically, called of Santa Croce.

Precisely the monolithic column in stone of Visone, increasingly present in porticos, loggiati and modular elements of local aulic architecture, gradually determines, until the entire 18th century, an address and a stylistic taste not detectable in any other area beyond the aqueous^[6].

In more recent times, gradually dismantled the use in architecture, the quarries are converted to produce lime. This activity continued until all the 70s of the last century with the large Canepa and Zanoletti plants located close to the urban center, which however had to close for reasons of public hygiene due precisely to the excessive proximity to the town.

The local geological system is affected by various tectonic discontinuities, such as the transtensive fault system developed in the direction about East-West among the Baths of Acqui Terme and Visone, which determines the presence of sectors with high permeability, where it is easier to climb underground waters. This phenomenon, at the origin of the well-known aquatic spa system, is actually passed to much of the Fanese territory, determining also in it the presence of several sources of chloride-sodium water with high salinity and temperature often higher than that seasonal environment^[7].

Since there is no volcanic activity locally, the thermal water of this system is heated only because of the normal geothermal gradient and its origin is meteoric: it is estimated that filters in the ground through fractures present on the Apennine heights of the genoese hinterland and that stays in the subsoil for a very variable time (between 42 and 1000 years) before re-emerged in the aquatic and Fanonesian springs^[8].

The main thermal springs of Visone are:

• the "Caldana", located in the urban concentric in the street of the same name near the parish church;
• the "fontana del Quaré", located immediately outside the village in the direction of Grognardo.

The knowledge and use of these sources, as for those aqueous ones, date back to the late Roman period and, still at the end of '800, both waters and muds of the Fanonese springs were widely used for treating disorders such as goiter, joint pain and menstrual irregularity.^[9].

The coat of arms and gonfalone were granted by decree of the President of the Republic of 20 June 1956.^[16][17]

The gonfalone is an intertwined drape in red, yellow and blue pole.

At the end of Piazza Castello there is the Rocca, the oldest urban nucleus in the village, overlooking a river bend Bormida. The original layout of the defensive structure certainly dates back to at least the 10th century, since it is attested at that time as the residence of the Aleramic lineage that dominated the Acqui countryside.

Of the deep reorganization operated by Malaspina at the end of the 15th century there are still few ruins of the building, but the tower is still substantially intact (visitable up to the top thanks to the recent restoration of the internal stairs), the door to access the defensive walls and a large part of the ditch on the eastern bastions. The late-medieval receptacle originally present within the walls, which has been greatly reduced due to the collapses caused by the imposing flood of the 1861, it was almost completely demolished in the years '90 to place a belvedere square, which is used today as the seat of the main tourist and cultural events of the country.

The tower inspired in 1968 the sculptor and artistic blacksmith Ernesto Ferrari (1894-1973) for the realization of a remarkable overhanging medallion, now preserved at the Ferrari Museum of Acqui Terme, and for the composition of a poem dedicated to it.

At the foot of the Rocca, until the years '70, was running an ancient public ferry service to connect the country with the Cavallera region, located beyond Bormida but still belonging to the municipal territory of Visone.

The building is located on Via Acqui, at the eastern limit of the country.

One of the most illustrious members of the noble family in Milan was Cardinal Michele Bonelli, nephew for maternal part of Pope St. Pius V. At the same time he followed his work to complete the Holy Cross in Bosco Marengo (16th century), had this grandiose palace built for his family in Visone, probably also using part of the same workers employed in the construction of the papal complex. In the 18th century the Rossi family, the new owners, carried out many restorations in the western wing, restoring the Italian garden and embellishing it with fountains, basins, water features and exotic plants. In 1872 San Giovanni Bosco was hosted, passing through during one of his many journeys between Turin and Mornese. The wife of the cavalier Tranquillo Rossi, called The Madame, was the last resident of the building and the name by which it is known today derives from her.

Many interesting works, lost today, adorned the house. Among these are the valuable paintings of the Great Hall of Receptions on the noble floor and a fresco work by painter Pietro Ivaldi called Il Muto in the inner loggia of the courtyard. The main entrance gate to the western body and the inner courtyard remain, with a nice loggia on two levels connected and a large staircase. The most significant part is however without doubt the 16th-century loggia with Doric columns in Visone stone, on the eastern side of the facade, completely frescoed inside in 1575 by the painter from Milan Giovanni Monevi (1634-1714) with grotesques reminiscent of the Raphaelite style of the Vatican Palaces. Through an internal window from which one could witness religious celebrations, the palace is directly connected to the adjacent oratory of San Rocco, the ancient seat of the Confraternity, which preserves a valuable wooden statue of the saint (17th century) and various processional furnishings (17th-19th century).

The construction of the present parish church, dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul, began in 1604 to replace the former parish church of Santa Maria delle Grazie now billy, but it will be necessary to wait until 1695 for its definitive completion and consecration.

The plant is a unique nave, with four side chapels dedicated respectively to St. Anthony, the Sacred Heart, the Madonna del Rosario and Saint Joseph. The vault of the nave is frescoed with works by Pietro Ivaldi, as well as frescoes on the sides of the altar:Last Supper (left) and the Predication of Saint John the Baptist (right). Also noteworthy are four late seventeenth-century canvases by the painter from Vino Giovanni Monevi: Purgatory Souls, the Country, the Country with St. Bovo and Our Lady and the Battle of Lepanto. Facing the left side of the altar (in the horns Evangelii) is placed a wooden pulpit of the second half of the seventeenth century, while in front of the right side (in hornus Epistolae), in a small room, a reproduction of the beginning '900 of the grotto of Lourdes made of sack canvas and chalk according to a scenic style common to many other churches in the area. At the centre of the apse, a niche houses two wooden statues of Saints Peter and Paul, which on June 29th of each year are drawn to be carried in procession and exposed to the veneration of the faithful.

The façade, decorated with statues of the patron saints and of the Sacred Heart, was enriched in 1927 by a fresco depicting the Madonna of the Rosary with Saint Dominic and Saint Catherine from Siena, work by the painter Lorenzo Laiolo (1877-1947).

The church also houses a fine canine organ dating back to 1897, the work of Alessandro Mentasti's varesina workshop with subsequent interventions by Mentasti himself in 1907 and Edoardo Negri in 1928.

At the age of the country, two still visible architectures date back to date. The first consists of a small Romanesque apse belonging to an ancient church of S. Peter (XI century), visible on the right side of the main fields in the municipal cemetery, probably belonged to a primitive parish extra wall^[18].

A little further east near the village S. Second, there is a three-arch bridge, also Romanesque, which unites the banks of the torrent Visone: in good condition of conservation, despite a deturbing consolidation of reinforced concrete made at the height of the road seat, it is still passable and are still perfectly visible the original structural lines.

Inhabitants registered^[19]

Foreign ethnic groups and minorities

1. Albania ,30
2. Morocco,30
3. Romania,22
4. Ecuador,14
5. North Macedonia,4

Every year, on November 2, a free distribution is still organized in the square of chickpea soup (cisrò in Piemontese). The habit of preparing this dish on the occasion of the day when the dead are commemorated is typical of the Langhe and the Monferrato: The local tradition of distributing it free of charge in the square is especially from an ancient habit of the Famenese feudal lord, who with this gesture was to remind himself and his subjects that, in front of death, all men are equal.

Between 1978 and 1984 a jazz club was active in Visone, which left an important mark on the local music scene, hosting some of the names that most have made the national and international history of this art such as Paolo Conte, Lino Patruno, Romano Mussolini, Ralph Sutton, Joe Newman, Kenny Drew, Harry “Sweets” Edison, Chet Baker. In 2008, on the occasion of the thirty-year opening of the Jazz club Visone, a popular summer jazz festival was started which still continues today, called Visone in Jazz.

The Lies (Busy, in Piedmontese), are the characteristic dessert of the town and every year they are the protagonists of a large traditional festival in the square, during which they are kneaded, fried and distributed in large quantities. In 2020 and 2021 the party did not take place, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

One of the most renowned products typical of Visone since the second half of the nineteenth century is also the torrone, still today prepared in the ancient workshop of "Canelìn". Visone's torrone, over the years has received several awards and awards (premio Gold face by Papillon in 1994 and 2002 Nonino Risit d'ur in 2002, Three cones Gambero Rosso continuously from 2017 to 2022, becoming a true symbol of this country.

• Feast of lies, last Sunday in May;
• Patronage of the SS. Peter and Paul, 29 June;
• Musical review “Visone in Jazz”, July;
• Ancient fair of Our Lady of the Rosary, first Sunday of October;
• Traditional distribution in the square of chickpea soup, 2 November.

The Municipality of Visone has been part of theMountain union between Langa and Monferrato from its institution until 31 December 2024.