The settlement network of the upper Orco and Soana lands

The settlement dynamics of the highlands can be quite clearly understood starting from the 12th–13th centuries, when competition arose between local lords and communities of free men to secure increasingly larger areas of cultivable land at the expense of hillside forests. These were the “ronchi,” created to establish new productive environments, enabling communities to expand and lords to gain substantial profits. This dynamic directly affected the vast stretches of communal or seigneurial forest in remote valleys and on higher slopes.

To understand the extent of human penetration into the valleys, it is significant to note the mention in Noasca of a church dedicated to Saint Mary as early as 1142, when Guido of the Counts of Canavese donated it, with all its appurtenances, to the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre. A few years later, in 1185, a document of uncertain authenticity mentions a seigneurial presence in the small settlement of Andorina (Valprato) at an altitude of 1,465 meters. In the pastoral visit of 1329, the church of Campiglia dedicated to Saint Orso appears, establishing a terminus ante quem for stable settlement in the upper Soana Valley with significant clusters. Due to its dedication, this church establishes a clear sociological and cultural link with the Franco-Burgundian environment of the Aosta Valley, where influences from Walser migrations of Germanic origin are also present.

Rural villages of common people, consisting of small single-room houses, are rarely datable, but in the highland environment there are elements that, by comparison, allow us to identify a fairly large number of seigneurial structures built at altitudes well above 1,000 meters above sea level, attributable to the High Middle Ages. The key element is the fortified house of Pertia in the municipality of Ribordone, located at 1,228 meters above sea level. It is a building with a clear defensive character, equipped with substantial agricultural dependencies, positioned to oversee a large estate. The structure is mentioned in Pietro Azario’s chronicle “De Bello Canepiciano” in the mid-14th century, as it was involved in the bloody War of Canavese (1338–1346).

The model of settlement consisting of scattered fortified houses in the highlands is recurrent, and alongside the seigneurial structure there was invariably a rural settlement of considerable size, consisting of the dwellings of the subjects of the lord of ban, linked to the agro-pastoral estate.

Alongside seigneurial settlement policies, there were also initiatives by communities of free men seeking expansion into forest areas, which explains the presence of numerous settlements where no aristocratic buildings such as fortified houses can be identified. In such cases, these were relocations of small groups initiated by communities within common lands.

These two forms of settlement constitute the anthropic fabric of the highlands, with structures suitable for housing cattle herds, whose medieval spread seems to be attributable solely to seigneurial initiative which, for the purpose of increasing revenues, brought large areas of land—either owned or appropriated—under cultivation, relocating entire groups of rural population and wage laborers.

The drive for the creation of “ronchi,” with or without seigneurial presence, appears to stem from the increase in demographic pressure between the 11th and 13th centuries. This led to the formation of numerous villages and contributed to shaping the settlement network of the valleys, which is now close to what can still be observed today. In the Orco and Soana Valleys, the list of settlements with fortified houses is long and includes Servino, Andorina, Guaria, Crotto, Bech, and Erbanda in the Soana Valley, and Pietra, Navetta, Raje, Fraschietto, Onsino, Castelletto, Pertia, Tirolo, Barcheron, Molera, and Casetti along the Orco axis, to mention only the main ones. A special case is Pianit, in the municipality of Locana, where a twin house of Carolingian tradition appears much older than those typically found in the area, possibly dating back to the 11th century.

Dr. Marco Cima
Historian - CESMA - Archaeological Museum of Canavese