GTB Section 03: TORRAZZO - VIVERONE

Start: Torrazzo (640 m)
Finish: Viverone, Borgata Rolle (360 m)
GtB legs: 8, 9, 10
Passing through: Magnano (540 m) Zimone (440 m) 
Length: 14.3 km
Ascents and descents: 110 m (climb) 390 m (descent) 
Time required: 4’10”
Difficulty: T - (Easy)
Comments: Continuing across the morainic hills of the Serra, you come to the interesting village of Magnano. Here a deviation to the Monastery of Bose and nearby Church of San Secondo  is obligatory. The church is one of the finest examples of Romanesque architecture in the province of Biella. It was built in the eleventh century and has maintained its elegant, simple appearance unaltered. At the end of this section, the woods give way to vineyards, then views open onto Lake Viverone from the top of the surrounding rolling hills. 

Descend to the bottom of the valley, and walk past the campsite. Climb up to a knoll and take a left turn at a crossroads. A cart-track on the level passes through a dense chestnut grove and meets a paved road where you turn left, then immediately right. This will bring you out in Magnano and on through the old village centre (parish church, right). Take Via Roma out the other side and on the road to Cerrione you will see the Monastery of Bose on the left. At the end of the straight section leave the paved road for a carriageable road that passes through the wood and takes you to  Zimone. Having crossed the Biella-Zimone road, take the dirt road between Zimone and Viverone. When you come out of the wood you will find fields of vines from where you can admire the view over Lake Viverone. Take the paved road and descend to the wash-house in Borgata Rolle where this section ends. If you turn right, you can visit the historic centre of Viverone and go down to the lake.