Via dei Briganti - Leg 3

Starting from the concentric area of Villafranca d’Asti, where you can visit the splendid baroque church of Castellamonte, you leave the main nucleus first crossing the state road and then, through an underpass, the motorway. The first stretch of the path follows a white road parallel to the motorway itself, then you continue until you reach the Crocetta region and then head north, entering the environment of Valtriversa.

The name comes from the river Traversola, the main waterway of the valley, to which we owe the name and, on whose banks, in the past, there were numerous mills, very important in the local economy. At the Traversola stream we can take the 3A Variant that connects to the Via dell'Acqua and then to San Paolo Solbrito.

We continue along Leg 3 and we cross the valley, crossing cultivated fields and small wooded areas until we reach the crossroads with the SP 10, from which we can climb up to the concentric Maretto, through a country road that leads directly to the centre. Maretto, whose name derives from the Latin Meleto (a place characterized by the presence of apple trees), whose origins probably date back to Roman times, gave rise in the past to three distinct settlements Meletum de Troya (Maretto), Meletum Roatum (Roatto), Meletum de Montafia (the latter settlement later disappeared). The most significant element of Maretto is the parish church, built in the 18th century and dedicated to Saints Mary and Michael. The church of the S. Croce, built in the XVII century and already seat of the confraternity of the "battuti", is also very important.

Crossing the old town centre, you continue until you reach the very close nucleus of Roatto, the final point of the third Leg. From here we can take the 3A Variant connecting to the Via dei Santi and the municipality of Cortandone or the 3B Variant.