Popular culture

In history books, the Susa Valley is mainly remembered for the passage of armies and their generals, and as a fortified outpost. Its history, however, is not only that of Hannibal, Frederick Barbarossa, and Napoleon. It is the history of the men and women who inhabited it, working the land and interacting with the mountain.

Today, times are different and the valley has changed, but the sensitivity of those who, through the recovery of places and traditions, wish to pass on the knowledge of past generations to future ones, is still alive and active.

"Nine months of winter and three months of hell" our grandparents used to say, to testify to the difficulties of life and work in an environment as harsh as the Alps.
This has stimulated in them a strong instinct of survival and a great adaptability.

For millennia, man has endeavored to improve his living and working conditions: indispensable were the perfect knowledge of the surrounding environment and the raw materials at his disposal, and a good amount of ingenuity to adapt them to his needs.

Strongly tied to their traditions, the people of Valsusa have skillfully preserved them to this day: patronal festivals, historical carnivals, and rituals related to the summer solstice represent the survival of ancient cults.

The “Sword Dance” and the Spadonari, the Puento of Chiomonte, the Bran of Meana, and the Bran of Giaglione are expressions of pagan rituals related to the rebirth of spring, later absorbed by Christian traditions, and still represent an important moment for the communities that keep them alive.