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Santa Maria and surroundings

The culture of the valley finds expression in the numerous museums in Santa Maria and the rest of the Valley. The most interesting is perhaps the Chimney Sweep Museum, housed in Villa Antonia, which records the life of the many local chimney sweeps whose hard trade led them to emigrate from the valley throughout Europe, often at the cost of personal sacrifice. Every September sweeps from all over the world come to the singular International Chimney Sweeps’ Gathering in Santa Maria.

The village of Malesco has a fine example of rural civilization in the “Mulin dul Tàc”, an old mill dating from the end of the 19th century. Located in the outlying hamlet of Zornasco, it was used in the past to produce flour from rye, chestnuts, anything the land could yield up. Malesco also has, in the Palazzo Pretorio, the Soapstone and Stonecutters’ Museum, a testimonial to the local resource of soapstone and its exploitation by the people of the valley since prehistoric times.

The other villages in the valley also offer interesting places to visit. There is the imposing Sanctuary in the village of Re, built in honour of the miracle of the Madonna del Sangue (The Virgin of the Blood); the famous Treasure of Craveggia, kept in the village church and comprising crucifixes, priest’s vestments and the funeral mantle of Louis XIV; the “Ca di Feman” (house of women) Museum in Villette, displaying traditional implements and things used by the women of the valley in their domestic work.