Between Emilia Romagna and Piedmont there is the pass of the stars, a perfect road to escape from the city

Between Emilia-Romagna and Lombardy the Apennines offer splendid high mountain roads, such as the Giovà Pass. We are in an area that is often called “of the four regions”, precisely because, in addition to the two connected ones, Liguria and Piedmont are also just a few kilometers away as the crow flies.

Definitely interesting for mountain lovers and those looking to escape from the city, this road is beautiful at any time of the year. In winter it is full of snow, in summer with the cool Apennine temperatures, it is an all-round motorbike tourism destination. However, it has a particularity, which we will discover, which earns it the purely honorific title of crossing of the stars. But with a pinch of wit, you will have already understood it!

Giovà Pass by motorbike. The itinerary

Map

Path

Let’s take it at a distance. What? The Giovà Pass, Obviously! In this itinerary, which starts and arrives in Liguria, we will also touch Emilia-Romagna, briefly Lombardy and for a large stretch Piedmont.

Let’s start from Rezzoaglio, the third largest municipality in terms of surface area in all of Liguria. We are located at 700 meters above sea level, among the splendid views of the Val d’Aveto. The municipality is famous for its imposing bell towers, which design a decidedly original skyline, with stone decorations on both quadrangular and circular plans.

Following the pleasant route of State Road 45 we go up Val Trebbia in the direction of Emilia-Romagna, towards the hamlet of Tartago di Ottone. It is more or less from here that the climb to the Passo del Giovà begins, to be honest a not particularly complex but very panoramic ascent.

The stretch of road that “crosses over” into Lombardy coincides with the summit, and with the passage on Provincial Road 18. We are in the immediate vicinity of another very interesting pass, Cosola huts. We thus enter Piedmont after a couple of kilometres, traveling along the numerous hairpin bends of Provincial Road 140 in the province of Alessandria.

We go down towards the Val Borberareaching in about 30 kilometers Rocchetta Ligure. It is worth visiting here Museum of the Resistance “Giambattista Lazagna”which recounts the partisan liberation struggles of the period 1943-1945 and the daily history of these territories.

The last stretch of this itinerary starring the Giovà Pass takes us towards Liguria, and more precisely to Ronco Scrivia. About 20 kilometers separate Roccaforte Ligure and Ronco Scrivia, located in the valley of the same name.

The territory of Ronco, beautifully told in an early twentieth century story by Herman Hesse (Nobel for literature in 1946), is not far from Genoa and the Ligurian Sea. A natural environment of great value, the village of which is accessed via the beautiful Roman bridge of Via Postumia.

Everything you need to know about Passo del Giovà

Three valleys for three regions

The Giovà Pass is located in the heart ofLigurian Apennines, yet we are between Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna. An apparent contradiction, you might say. But no!

This area is in fact a “synthetic territory”, where nature expresses itself differently from the political borders between the regions. Consider, in fact, that the geographical limits of this stretch of the Apennines, the first, touch Liguria, Lombardy, Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna and La Spezia.

They are precisely those mountains that we know very well, and which express authorial roads like the Altar nozzleThe Turchino Pass or the very famous one Cisa Road.

Located between Valle StafforaVal Boreca and Val Borbera, the Giovà Pass It has its peak in Lombardy, but quickly descends into Emilia-Romagna and after less than two kilometers it flows into Piedmont. In the itinerary we propose below, in fact, we will touch on all three. Incredible, right?

The most loved by amateur astronomers

Why is this passage so loved by those who ‘practice’, in various capacities, the noble art of astronomy? Simply put: due to the absence of light. Northern Italy, and in particular the Po Valley, is among the areas with the highest light pollution in the world. A phenomenon that is particularly evident in urbanized areas, which prevents the correct vision of the starry sky.

Telescopes in hand, experts and the simply curious search after sunset for areas where, all around, there are few houses and above all very few lights: the Giovà Pass, precisely. The rest area is rather easy to reach: it is 85 kilometers from Genoa, more or less the same that separates it from Alessandria and Piacenza. Once at the top, among the peaks of Mount Chiappo he was born in Cavalmurone, astral observation becomes easy and truly enjoyable. Furthermore, the presence of accommodation facilities makes the pass ideal for an “out-of-town trip” that lasts an entire weekend.

Some numbers and curiosities about the Giovà Pass

The climb to the Giovà Pass takes you up to an altitude of 1368 m above sea level with a total distance of 16.1 kilometers and a height difference of 806 meters. The average gradient of the pass is 5%, with large sections below 4% (between the 3rd and 7th kilometres) and about one kilometer (8.5 – 9.5 progressive) with a short steep climb at the 10th, 5%. The pass is about 32 kilometers from Bobbiothe ‘bikers’ village’ and its neighbour Penice Passalso famous for its strategic position among the regions of Northern Italy.

Featured image credit: wikipedia.org