Oasi Zegna: in Piedmont, a natural park full of activities
Naturalistic area of the province of Biella , in Piedmont, the Zegna Oasis owes its name to Ermenegildo Zegna .
The Italian entrepreneur, one of the most famous names in the fashion industry, in the thirties – after having founded his company in Trivero, in the Biella Prealps – Ermenegildo Zegna decided to do something for his native territory. He built houses for employees, a center dedicated to health and sport, and started a project to reforest the slopes of the mountain : over 500 thousand conifers, rhododendrons and artensias were planted, and the road was built – called ” Panoramica Zegna ” – that would allow local people and tourists to enjoy all the beauty of the mountain.
Thus the Oasi Zegna was born, whose objective is the protection and enhancement of the territory. It covers about 100 square kilometers , the oasis, all around the first 26 kilometers of the panoramic road. Here, tourism is “soft”, the link with immense nature. People come to practice sports, to go on excursions, to participate in an extraordinary environmental education project .
There are so many activities you can do inside the Oasi Zegna: you can ski in Bielmonte , organize a road trip along the Panoramica Zegna, admire the blooming of rhododendrons, immerse yourself in the Bosco del Sorriso, visit archeometallurgical sites, mountain pastures , sanctuaries.
And it is a sanctuary that, during his visit to the Oasis, the TV program “Linea Bianca” has explored: the Sanctuary of San Bernardo . Built in the fourteenth century on Monte Rubello, in Trivero, according to legend it was built in just 50 hours using the remains of the Dolci fortifications to celebrate the victory over Fra Dolcino (the heretic friar mentioned by Dante in the Divine Comedy), who – during the Middle Ages – he took refuge right on these mountains, where he fought his battle and was then captured and burned at the stake. Reachable on foot from the Bocchetta di Stavello or from the Bocchetta di Margosio , it offers a wonderful panorama over the Po Valley and the Alps.
But there are actually so many opportunities offered by the Zegna Oasis . Between skiing and cross-country skiing, trekking and snowshoeing, the enduro bike and taste routes (starting from those mountain pastures where you can taste extraordinary dairy products), thi