Santa Maria Loop Trail

If the landscape between Penango and Moncalvo were to become a jigsaw puzzle, it would certainly be among the most difficult to put together. You only need to take a look at Google Earth to understand how many endless nuances are characteristic of this area of the Basso Monferrato: vineyards, fields, meadows and small patches of woodland alternate, creating a kaleidoscope of colours.

This is a 6 km long loop trail that you can walk in about two hours and that does not present any particular difficulty: short and rare uphill stretches, unpaved but well-maintained roads and a regenerating, almost therapeutic quietness to keep you company.

The departure is at the small church of Santa Maria, in the eponymous hamlet of Moncalvo. Start out on Strada Santa Maria and, once you have passed house number 51, turn right between the two houses to reach the dirt track that leads you, with some excitement, into the seraphic atmosphere of these lands.A series of gentle, scenic ups and downs lead you to Frazione Biletta, near Cioccaro di Penango, in countryside dotted here and there with farms. Turn left onto Via Biletta and follow it until you reach a small group of houses: here, just before the hairpin bend, turn onto the dirt track that rejoins Strada Santa Maria (in the stretch within the municipality of Grazzano Badoglio) and then, continuing slightly uphill, you will be back at the place of departure, where we suggest you pay a little attention to the small church with its fine set of works of art and, since 2016, custodian of a relic of St John Paul II, to whom the opposite square is dedicated.