Pasturana: Churches, Canalone and the Gavi Wine Landscape

Pasturana brings together historic religious buildings and a testament to rural water management in a gently rolling agricultural landscape. The town lies on the northern edge of the Gavi DOCG area, where the agricultural landscape gives way to the first hills of the Oltregiogo. Pasturana is also one of the municipalities in the Gavi DOCG area where winegrowing has historically been part of the agricultural landscape. This creates a clear focus when choosing a place to stay: cultural history can be combined with an appreciation of winegrowing and the landscape.

Landscape and walks

The Passeggiata di San Martino follows Braghera Road through the forest and alongside the Rio Riasco. Its forest and waterway setting offers a different emphasis from the wine landscape of the Gavi DOCG area. When planning your stay around your interests, you can consider the walking route as a distinct focus alongside the religious buildings and the Canalone.

Winegrowing and producer visits

Visits and tastings can be arranged with producers based along the Gavi DOCG route. Unlike the Passeggiata, a producer visit is not a named route but an appointment; if interested, arrange it with the producer concerned. This makes it possible to distinguish between a walk and an organized encounter with winegrowing when planning your stay.

Religious buildings and rural engineering

The Canalone, a structure built of dressed stone, is another testament to rural engineering. A channel from the Rio Riasco was carried over the Rio Torto, thereby supplying water to the mill in Pasturana. The Canalone thus brings a different aspect of the town’s history to life than the religious buildings: it is a tangible testament to the former water supply for a mill.

The parish church of San Martino has a gabled façade and a bell tower. Its entrance is framed by a Neoclassical portal, with a fresco above it. Right next to the parish church is the oratory of the Santissima Trinità, which was also built by the Trotti family.

The Antica Pieve di San Martino was built in Lombard times and later became a Benedictine monastic settlement. A small church survives in the former monastic area; it was probably the baptistery. The Pieve has been restored and consolidated. Each side has four brick piers, each with four wooden roof trusses. The walls are made partly of bricks and river stones and partly of rammed earth using the Pisè technique; at the rear are three arches made of unfired bricks. Pisè refers to the rammed-earth building method.

The Sagra del Corzetto took place in Pasturana from 5 to 7 September 2025. The event was described as the town’s longest-running festival and its 52nd edition. This event adds a recent example of local festive culture to the town’s architectural history.

Discover more destinations: Camagna Monferrato, Borgo Adorno, Castellazzo Bormida, Bacchetti, Cantalupo Ligure, Valmacca, Spineto Scrivia, Cassine.

For the broader travel overview: Alessandria.