20 kilometers from Cuneo, nestled between the mountains and nature of Piedmont, Vernante is a village of just 1,200 inhabitants with an extraordinary history. On the walls of his houses, in the streets, on the doors and in the windows, the story of Pinocchio lives every day. More than one hundred and fifty murals transform the historic center into an open-air illustrated book, capable of surprising adults and children with the same force.
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Attilio Mussino, “Pinocchio’s uncle”
It all starts with a man. Attilio Mussino was the most famous illustrator of Collodi’s character, to the point of earning the nickname “Pinocchio’s uncle”. From 1944 to 1954 he spent the last years of his life in Vernante, because his partner Margherita was originally from this small village in the Alta Val Vermenagna.
Mussino’s illustrations were already famous throughout the world. The first edition of Pinocchio drawn by him came out between 1910 and 1911 for the Florentine publishing house Bemporad, and became the visual reference of the character for generations of readers. It is those same images that peep out from the walls of Vernante today.
How the murals were born
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In July 1954, a few months after Mussino’s death, two people from Vernando decided to pay homage to him in a concrete way. Bartolomeo Cavallera and Bruno Carletto, nicknamed “the Cat and the Fox”, began to reproduce scenes from Collodi’s novel on the walls of the town, using the illustrations from the 1910-1911 Bemporad edition as a model.
It was a spontaneous gesture, rooted in affection for a man who had chosen Vernante as his last home. Over time the initiative turned into something bigger. The murals multiplied, involving other local artists, and today they cover the entire historic center. The Blue Fairy, Geppetto, the Cat and the Fox, Lucignolo: each character has found its place on the walls of the village, accompanying visitors along a narrative path that retraces all the adventures of the wooden puppet.
In addition to the murals, numerous silhouettes and statues inhabit the gardens and stairways of the town. At the northern entrance of Vernante there is also a monument dedicated to Pinocchio, the work of the Bertaina brothers, local artisans.
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The Mussino museum
For those who want to go beyond the murals, Vernante has a city museum dedicated to the illustrator. Here are preserved the first illustrated edition of Pinocchio from 1911, the book with animated pages published in 1942 and the 33 plates of the last edition created by Mussapi, which appeared in “Il Giornalino” in 1952. It is a small museum, but dense: it tells the story of an artist and his bond with a character who spanned the entire twentieth century.
The historic center and the churches
The historic center of Vernante is worth a visit at a leisurely pace. The parish church of San Nicolao is one of the most significant buildings in the town, an expression of that Alpine religiosity that still marks the rhythm of the seasons today. The sanctuary of the Madonna della Valle is the heart of the celebrations of the Assumption, the annual event most felt by the local community.
The feast of the Assumption involves residents and tourists in an evening that culminates with the lighting of bonfires on the hills around the town and a fireworks display. It is one of those moments in which a small village shows all its ability to create a community, and it is worth organizing the visit to coincide with it.
The Fontana Bleu and the Tourusela
A few steps from the center, reachable with a short walk, there are two places linked to the historical memory of the town. The Fontana Bleu owes its name, according to local tradition, to Pope Pius VII. La Tourusela, on the other hand, is an ancient medieval castle that dominates the town from above, evidence of a more military and stratified past than the fairy-tale image of Vernante might suggest.
Palanfré and the Bandit Woods
Vernante is included in the Natural Park of the Protected Areas of the Maritime Alps, and nature here is an integral part of the identity of the place. The village of Palanfré, in Valle Grande, is a jewel of mountain architecture and the starting point of some of the most beautiful excursions in the area, including the one in the beech forest of Bosco Bandito. It is one of those places that walkers seek out and rarely forget.
The Vernantin, the artisan knife
An ancient profession survives in Vernante: the cutler. Local artisans still produce the Vernantin today, a switchblade entirely handmade, with a horn or wooden handle. It is a product of excellence, appreciated by connoisseurs, and represents that Alpine manufacturing capacity that resists industrial standardization. Bringing one home is a way to remember Vernante with something concrete in your hands.
Vernante’s cuisine
The table is a serious chapter, among the traditional local recipes, registered and valorised by the municipal denomination, the stuffed onions, the Vernantina ravioli, prepared with poor ingredients but capable of a precise and recognizable flavour, and the pumpkin and meliga pie stand out. They are dishes that tell of a no-frills mountain cuisine, built on the quality of local raw materials and on recipes handed down from family to family.
Vernante is a place that surprises because it manages to hold different things together: the lightness of a journey among the Pinocchio murals, the depth of a museum dedicated to an illustrator forgotten by most, the silent beauty of the Maritime Alps, the concreteness of living craftsmanship. It’s worth the trip from Cuneo, and even more so if you stop to sleep.
