The Stone of Saint Varena is a rare example of a living folkloric tradition rooted in the ancient past. Blending myth, ritual, and faith, it continues to attract those seeking healing or a deeper connection to the spiritual heritage of the land.
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The “Sasso dell’Olio” (meaning: Stone of the oil)
The “Sasso dell’Olio” is located in the area where the Tortonese hills begin to rise into the Apennines, with the nearest village being Garbagna. The closest paved road leads to località Bastita, from where one must continue on foot. We actually enjoyed a beautiful hike starting from Castellania, passing through the Towers of Sant’Alosio, a site that features some cup marks and appears to be connected to the stone.
The Rock stands directly along a forest trail, atop one of the many hills in the area. Without a guide, it’s quite difficult to find. While many stones emerge naturally from the ground, this one clearly appears man-made. In fact, it has tilted about 30 degrees, likely due to centuries of erosion. The stone is about 1.7 meters tall, though it appears taller due to the sloped terrain.
Once you see it in person, the origin of its name becomes clear: at the top of the stone is a small basin, larger than a cup mark, which was likely used to hold oil or fat for a flame. Another striking feature is the stone’s orientation: despite the dense vegetation, it points toward the peak of Sant’Alosio, where we had passed earlier. That site contains a large cup mark and has become a place of solstice celebrations in recent years.
The two scenic hilltops, Sant’Alosio and the Sasso dell’Olio, are about 6 km apart by trail, and likely even closer as the crow flies.
The area around the Sasso is archaeologically intriguing, with many other stones scattered nearby. To the left of the main stone lies another one, partially buried, that appears quite similar and may have fallen long ago. Behind these two stones is a small clearing with several naturally occurring stones that deserve further examination, at least one appears to bear man-made markings.
Most remarkable is a large boulder, nearly three meters tall, that stands right in the center of the clearing on a small rise. Though it seems naturally placed, it exudes a particular presence or energy, and it contains unusual cavities. Whether these are natural or carved remains unclear, but they certainly caught our attention, and probably that of ancient visitors as well.
Finally, many other stones in the area, though covered with moss and leaves, seem to show signs of carvings or markings, cup marks and other incisions, weathered by centuries of exposure, as suggested by the photographs provided.
On the road from Acqui Terme to Spigno, one comes across Montechiaro d’Acqui, Moncior in the local language. In a rather bleak clearing beneath a tree stands a large stone, about which nothing is known. What is certain is that it has been in that spot for many years—no one remembers its origin. On either side of the boulder, ‘benches’ made of concrete slabs have also been placed.
The stone is near the road, just outside the city of Alessandria. During the XX century the menhir has been partially covered during the construction of the new road and now only the top can be seen.
One of the biggest group of menhirs of the region. It was part of a bigger megalithic site, destroyed and covered by new buildings until between the 70’s and the 90’s. Now what remains of the site is protected and some stone re-erected with the help of some old pictures and signs on the stones.
In fact on the monoliths there are some cup marks and a medieval cross.
(Monte Musinè, is sure one of the most famous place for misteries. Peter Kolosimo wrote about it and about some stones on it. It’s known for UFO too! But anyway, it’s sure that this place it’s allways been a very special place since prehistoric times).
Along the way to the top of the mountain you can find a lot of standing stones, but most of them are surely natural. I found this “alignement” on a book about megalitism on italian and swiss alps called “spiriti di pietra” by Massimo Centini, and I decided to go and to find it.
This is one of the most powerfull site I visited.
The big rocks are visible on the archeological area of Susa, just in the center of the city (main city of the Susa’s Valley).
There are many cups connected with a lot of channels and one bassin. The most visible cups are very regular, deep and larger, executed with metal tools. The water still runs from cup to cups!
In roman times an impirtant aqueduct was built on the rocks, close to the Arc of August. So, this was a very important cult site in prehistoric, celtic and roman times. The site look to one of the most “holy” mountains of the Alps: Rocciamelone, also the Arc of August is built exactly to watch the top of the mountain from the engraved rocks/main arc of the aqueduct.
One of many christianized stones of the area is still visible on face of the church of Villa del Foro, a small village near Alessandria, big center in prehistoric, celtic and roman times. Object of cult but expecially object of superstition is dedicated to the holy woman called Varena that in many legends saved the stone and the village from the pagan cults. Is not sure if it was a menhir or an altar stone.
Pera Crevolà“, means in dialect “riddled stone”. It’s near Mattie Municipality (TO – I), 25 minutes walking from the Menolzio village (Val Susa, Torino Province). The altitude is 950 m.
This incredible rock is not very big (150 x 170 cm), but it’s totally covered by engravings: 237 cup-marks, 13 channels and 5 crosses.
Lugnacco’s menhir is another one of the 3 (Chivasso, Mazzè, Lugnacco) similar menhir in this area. This is the smaller one (3.85 m tall) and it’s placed outside the small cemetery of the village, I don’t know if this is the original position.
There are some holes on it. In my opinion this engravings are newer than the menhir, but I don’t know.
Sant’alosio is a little village on the top af an high hill on the south/east of Piedmont. The rocks are partially covered by the eastern tower and also by lots of vegetation, but you can still see some cup marks expecially in winter without snow. Some cups looks very old and little, one is bigger (20 cm) and, I think, more recent. From this place you have a great 360° view, you can see all the western Alps, Ligurian Appennino and hills.
Chivasso’s menhir is one of 3 (Chivasso, Mazzè, Lugnacco) similar menhir survived trhough the centuries, part of bigger group in these area.
It’s 4 meters tall, it have a cup mark on it (and 2 holes made in medieval times) and now it’s conserved in a big glass box in a central square (piazza d’Armi) in Chivasso. The exact original position is not known.
Recently, the local historian Prof. Luciano Dell’Olmo recognized the importance of the piece and the town administration decided to restore it.
This valley it’s full of engraved rocks, and every years new sites are found.
Some of the most important rocks (cup marks, anthropomorphic figures, crosses and strange tables) are situated along the so called “Way of the souls” path (Sentiero delle Anime) near the village of Traversella (Torino). From prehistoryc times untill the the last centuries local alpine culture is rapresented here on the rocks: cup marks, anthropomorphic figures are the most ancient engravings, most of the rocks were cristianised with crosses.
Another important site (not rapresented here) in this valley is the “Pera dij Cros” (it means “Rock of the crosses” in piedmonteis) where it is possible to notice many prehistoric anthropomorphic figures.
“La Pietra della vita” (The Stone of life) is a big natural stone, glacial erratic, in Oropa near Biella. The stone is still visible on the backside of the shrine and it was object of strong fertility cults in the ancient times. The cult survived untill the christian era but christianized with a lot of crosses engraved on it first, than with a chapel built on it.