The best running trails around Lusernetta

When Edmondo de Amicis found himself writing a (beautiful) chapter on Torre Pellice, he titled it "The Geneva of Italy". And perhaps he could not have found a better title. It truly feels like being in Switzerland, for the order, the cleanliness, and especially the silence: I don't know what's in the air, but even the people at the bar chat in hushed tones. It's a town that lives in its own dimension, perhaps brought by the Waldensian religion - or perhaps the Waldensian religion has molded itself to the characteristics of what is its capital, who knows. In any case, absolutely worth visiting.

The history of the municipality is characterised by the presence of the Waldensians who, as in the rest of the Valley, began to settle there starting from the 13th century.

The name "Waldensians" comes from the Middle Ages. The Catholic Church used this term to describe the followers of Valdes from Lyon, who founded a movement of itinerant preachers around 1173. Valdes, known as "Petrus Waldus" since 1350, was a wealthy citizen of Lyon. Since he could not read the Latin Bible himself, he had it translated into the vernacular in 1173. He then gave his property to the poor and began to preach publicly. He soon gathered a circle of men and women around him. In 1532, the last itinerant preachers and their followers joined the Reformation and founded a Reformed Church in the Cottian Alps. Its members now called themselves "Waldensians". They were convinced that their ancestors had been Protestant Christians long before the Reformation. Today the Reformed Waldensian Church exists in Italy and South America. (Text source: https://www.waldenser.de/ueber-uns/wappen/geschichte )

This uniquely shaped Waldensian Temple is a building from 1806, with an interesting history of earthquakes and persecutions. From the square you can enjoy a beautiful view of the valley.

Torre Pellice is an enchanting Piedmontese village, a few kilometers south of Pinerolo. Its history and its territory are closely linked to Luserna San Giovanni. This place is of central importance for the Waldensian Church in Italy and is also the seat of the mountain community "Val Pellice". The monuments that underline its identity as a historical center of the Waldensian tradition are: the Waldensian Cultural Center – a place dedicated to the promotion and conservation of the documentary heritage and local minority languages, the Guesthouse, the Museum – with its vast historical and ethnographic, the Waldensian House - which houses over 50,000 books, including some of great rarity, such as the valuable Olivetano Bible from 1535, and finally the neo-Romanesque style temple from 1852. The civic gallery of contemporary art dedicated to Filippo Scroppo is certainly worth a visit, where works of painting, sculpture and some drawings by post-war Italian artists are exhibited.

Beautiful town between the plains and the mountains, with a well-preserved centre, a fifteenth-century building, and various points of interest. On the square with the monument to AVIS donors we find toilets and a water point. A nice destination for a day trip.

Neoclassical building built in 1806, with an interesting history of earthquakes and persecutions. From the square you can enjoy a beautiful view over the valley. It is located on the old road of San Giovanni, which is an excellent alternative to the provincial road at the bottom of the valley to go up from Bricherasio to Torre Pellice.

A short distance from each other, we find the Waldensian Temple of Torre Pellice; the Waldensian Museum; and the Waldensian House, where the Waldensian Synod is held every year. It is the center of Waldensian life. The Museum is a great place to learn more about this community. The whole area is of an order, a cleanliness, and a peace beyond belief, and it is easy to understand why Edmondo De Amicis defined this area as "the Italian Geneva".