Description of the attraction
Viu is a commune located in the ski resort of Val di Susa. The municipality of Viu is one of the largest in Italy, as it spreads over an area of 8,849 hectares. An important winter sports center and a popular summer tourist resort, Viu has given its name to one of Lanzo's three main valleys, the southernmost. The town itself is surrounded by the Rocchamelone and Tornetti mountains and the Col San Giovanni ridge, and Monte Civrari rises in the background. There are also green fields and vast forests around.
Viu and the valley of the same name have been known since antiquity. Some stone tools of the Neolithic era, ancient Roman artifacts discovered near the ruins of the Castello Versino castle and several rock inscriptions indicate that people settled in these places in the prehistoric era. The buildings of the town are concentrated around the parish church of San Martino, built in 1782 on the site of an earlier church. Inside, behind the Baroque main altar, there are nine side altars, erected here in the early years of the 20th century. Among Viu's other religious buildings are the parish church of San Giovanni Battista in Col San Giovanni, with its bell tower from the 10th to 11th centuries, and the chapel in Versino, built in the early 19th century. Casa Coatto, also located in Versino, attracts attention with its frescoed façade - this is probably where the dukes of Savoy stayed during their hunting expeditions. On the main square of Viu stands the Big Wooden Pinocchio with a height of 6, 53 meters - it is even included in the Guinness Book of Records. Other attractions of the city include the Viu Gate, which are two huge monoliths about 12 meters high, the Museum of the resistance movement in Col del Lis, Villa Scholdo, Villa Franchetti and Villa Fino.
