Bessanese's Tour

Historical note

The Bessanese is an imposing rocky massif of 3604 meters situated on the Italian-French border line in the Graian Alps, specifically in high “Val d' Ala di Lanzo“. Although hardly visible from the plain below, you may enjoy its stunning beauty with its wonderful east wall always in sight, riding up the “Valle d'Ala“.
The three days trekking that we are about to describe shall complete the circuit through winding high mountain paths that in some places cut across moraines left behind by melted down glaciers.

The Bessanese

This itinerary deserves to be carried out not only for the wild beauty of the countryside but for the historic landmarks as well. The stones that lie on either side of the Italian-French border line (Colle dell'Autoret, Passo del Collerin) over 3000 metres altitude are the witnesses of historic events that shall never sink into oblivion . The Viu' valley the far southern one of the Lanzo's valleys is crossed by the ancient road that led to France through the Autaret pass (3072 m), it used to be regarded by the Duchy of Savoy as an alternative pass, though seldom used for the difficulty encountered on crossing it, to the Moncenisio one. The two mountain passes aforementioned and the Gastaldi refuge, distinctive features of our tour, have been important witnesses of the partisan armed struggle against the nazi-fascists. The Lanzo's valley, like many other Piedmontese alpine valleys, have had a prominent role in the partisan fight. The conflict rose cruently during the year 1944, when the nazi-fascists thrust became oppressive with mopping up actions, destructive fires and wreak havoc tending to bow the partisan forces present in the area. Gianni Dolino, leader of the armed partisans in the Lanzo's valleys, in his book “Partisans in Val di Lanzo”, defines this sequence of events as “Apocalypse of autumn”. Effectively articulated, in the work of Dolino, is the testimony of the partisan Peter Carmagnola:
"At dawn we all started marching in single file along the mule track of the “Pian della Mussa“. Not a word. We kept on walking bent under our heavy rucksacks and thoughts. [...] The machine-gun, mortar and two ammunition boxes were being passed from a man to another. Nobody spoke, nobody complained. Kept on walking slowly step by step [...]. We reached the Gastaldi refuge on sunset [...] we settled randomly down to sleep while outside was snowing. The second day we decided to leave but this time we were walking on a glacier [...] finally, we gained the Collerin pass and began descending the slope therefrom [...] we had managed to walk our way into France”.

The early Gastaldi refuge (1880)

The Gastaldi refuge, the oldest one in the Lanzo's valleys, whose construction was completed in 1880 was, unfortunately, burned down on december 1908 by careless and inattentive mountain climbers. It was later reconstructed in a couple of years. Another fully destructive blaze was set on the night between the 3rd and 4th October 1944 by nazi-fascists during a clash with the partisan troups of the Savant detachment who were compelled to retreat into France over the Collerin pass (3203m). The refuge was rebuilt and inaugurated on 1970 and such has remained ever since.
During the winter 1944-1945 the Collerin pass was frequently crossed by a great number of partisans who went to France for supplies and specifically on april 1945 it was crossed by a joint group of partisans and French Maquis with the aim of sabotaging the Gastaldi Refuge cableway equipment that was being used by the Nazi-fascists for carrying the material needed to fortify the border line.
The Autaret pass was also known as a weary but useful way for eluding the Nazi-fascits grip, thus gaining a secure hiding place in France.
The woeful sanitary plight of the partisan brigades was a main issue that needed to be resolved. A partisan hospital was set up at Margone the last hamlet in Viu' valley. It was realized within the Cibrario's villa and led by Md. Attilio Bersano Begey, commander “Ferrero“.The hard mopping-up of the september-October 1944 made necessary the definitive evacuation of the hospital. The patients hosted were to be quickly moved with extreme difficulty over the French border through the Autaret pass to escape the Nazi-Fascists reprisal.
Storia eng Tour Bessanese

The two aforementioned passes were frequently crossed, during the second world war, mainly by partisan skirmishers who were seeking a secure hiding place in France. Earlier, from the second half of the nineteenth century up to the war outbreak, these passes were frequently traversed by smugglers who used to carry goods from and into France . After the war, with the arrival of the first tourists, the same smugglers relinquished smuggling and started to exploit their acquaintance of the territory by turning into alpine tour guides.
Recently the CAI volunteers have arranged to mark the whole tour's trail by the means of white-red coloured round marks, to put up sign posts and tour map guide-boards.

The "Della Rossa" lake

The buiding work for dam (July 1931)

The dam of the lake “Della Rossa“ is located at 2716 m above sea level and it's deemed to be the highest dam in Italy with a capacity of 8.300.000 cubic metres. The first application form requesting the permit to exploit the water of the fluvial basin of the Lera for the purpose of producing electric-power was submitted by the firm “Bisetti Luigi“ on the year 1917. The first surveys were conducted on 1923 by the engineers Gallo and Antonielli . However, the electric power plant was constructed by a company named SALPE who had taken over the former assignee “Bisetti Luigi“. It took 5 years from 1927 until 1932 to construct the dam; the work was restricted to the summer season only and plenty of trusses, rail-bars, other supporting framework and huge gantry cranes were employed for the construction. A great number of cableways and relevant cars were necessary to carry the material required for the construction. To this extent a locomotive powered by a steam engine was used in the narrow gauge railway track that was constructed to cover a 5 km distance (decauville).
On 1936the hydro-electric power plant was transferred to Ovest-Ticino (electricity producing company) who turned it to Dinamo (electricity producing company) on 1957. The plant was definitively transferred to ENEL (National Electric Power Board) on 1963.
A hut consisting of 18 beds managed by the “Camilliani Fathers“ and promoted by Father Vittorio Bertolaccini was erected close to the lake; it has been inaugurated on the 26/July/1990 for commemorating the former post erected on 1959 which was destroyed by a massive landslide on 1969.

Outing to "Della Rossa" lake

The Autaret's lakes 

The Autaret tarns are largely spread and are the most elevated ones in the Lanzo's valleys

The Romano Moise refuge at 1930

lying, as they are, at approximately 2970 metres above sea level; in Roman age, a road leading to ancient Gallia passed nearby the homonymic hill pass.
In the XVI century the hill pass was placed under tightened surveillance, in order to prevent plague spreading. Later on, the mule track was used for horseback mail deliveries.
Near the lakes, remainders of ammunition sheds and military barracks that used to host a garrison during the second world war are slowly crumbling to pieces; notably the military refuge of Moise with its 60 centimetres wide walls was built by the border militia in only three months. It was customary for hikers to pay a visit to the militants who at times used to join them for excursions to the hill pass.
Please note that the army unit “Levanna” formed by GAF (frontier armed guards) members with the duty of controlling all the alpine passes and led by commander Ltc “Fino“ was stationed in the Lanzo's valleys.
The battalion “Val Brenta“ was virtually garrisoned at the Autaret pass under the command of the Paduan Lt. “Dino Cattoni“ with headquarters standing at “Refuge Vulpot“ close to the Malciaussia lake; whereas the battallion “Val Cismon“, a military reserve, was garrisoned at Margone.

The "Val Brenta" battalion border Army during a trip