The Oropa loop and the Rosazza Tunnel: the nineteenth-century passage between two valleys

Above Oropa there is a tunnel dug by hand in 1897 to link the sanctuary with the Cervo valley: 400 metres through rock, dark, water dripping. Walking through it by torchlight and coming out on the other side, above Rosazza, is the moment everyone remembers from this loop. The rest is beech wood, pastures and the view over the plain.

The route

From the Oropa Sanctuary we climb the old dirt road to the mouth of the Rosazza Tunnel at 1,480 m. We walk through it and look out over the Cervo valley, the stone houses of Rosazza below.

We return on the Oropa side by woodland trail, with a lunch stop on a meadow or at an inn. At the end, the sanctuary and its basilica.

Who it's for

• anyone who wants a walk with a story in it, not just a view
• anyone after a mid-length loop without technical ground
• dog owners

Good to know

Headlamp required: the tunnel is dark and wet. Packed lunch or, by reservation, polenta at an inn in Oropa. In late November we start early for the light.

Getting there

The Oropa Sanctuary is an hour and forty from Milan: A4 to Carisio, then Biella and the Oropa road. Free, large sanctuary car park. Car pooling in the outing's Telegram group.