Portula: Sacred Buildings and Historic Routes

Explore Portula through several themes: the Castagnea e le sue castagne event, the Santuario della Novareia, historic transport routes, and sacred buildings in individual hamlets. Together, these themes range from seasonal traditions and religious architecture to the legacy of work in the valley. To get your bearings, it helps to distinguish between them: one has a set place in the annual calendar, while others tell the story of buildings and the historic use of routes.

Castagnea e le sue castagne

The Castagnea e le sue castagne event takes place in Castagnea on the third Sunday in October. If you would like to plan your trip around this recurring date, check the details of the relevant upcoming edition. The municipal program for 2025 included an autumn dinner featuring traditional dishes on October 18. This dinner should be understood as part of that edition’s program, not as a statement about what will be offered in later years. The third Sunday in October is the recurring event date; October 18 is a specific, dated detail from the 2025 program.

Santuario della Novareia and Festa dei Ciclamini

The Santuario della Novareia is located in Portula on the slopes of Monte Civetta and was built in the 18th century. Its hillside location and construction date offer two distinct points of reference for understanding the sanctuary. The traditional Festa dei Ciclamini is associated with the Santuario and takes place every year on the last Sunday in July. In the annual calendar, this date comes before the October event in Castagnea. If you are planning your trip around seasonal events, July and October therefore offer two different times to visit.

Circular trail and historic transport route

The Anello dei Santuari circular trail in Geoturismo in Valsessera starts in Masseranga di Portula. The Strada dell'Oro offers a different insight into the history of the routes: it follows a transport route that workers from the upper valley used every day in the 19th and 20th centuries to reach the factories on the valley floor. The two references are clearly distinct. For the Anello, Masseranga is the named starting point of the circular trail; the Strada dell'Oro focuses on its former use by workers and their journey to the factories. Portula can thus be discovered both through a circular trail with a specific starting point and through the history of a transport route linked to work in the valley.

Oratories and different construction periods

Portula’s sacred architectural history spans several periods. The Oratorio di San Giovanni Battista in the hamlet of Scaglia was built in the 17th century. The Oratorio dei SS. Fabiano e Sebastiano in the hamlet of Gila dates from the same century. The two oratories therefore share a period of construction but are located in different hamlets. The Oratorio dei SS. Pietro e Paolo near Cantone Granero is different: it was completely rebuilt in the 19th century. The presbytery and part of the apse retain older masonry. While the 17th-century date identifies the two oratories in Scaglia and Gila, the building near Granero combines a 19th-century reconstruction with older masonry. These differences provide specific historical themes to help you distinguish Portula’s sacred buildings from one another.

Discover more destinations: Pollone, Roppolo, Vigliano Biellese, Campiglia Cervo, Zimone, Lessona, Sordevolo, Torazza.

For the broader travel overview: Biella.