An interesting nature trail between Trontano and Verigo, just outside the Vigezzo Valley, leads to the discovery of the ancient watermills along the Rio Graglia (“i Mulit” in the local dialect). The six small stone watermills, lined up along the stream and used in the past to mill cereals and grains, have a simple structure in the style of the most common Ossola constructions of this type.
Like bread-baking ovens, wine presses, wash-houses and churches, besides providing a service that was essential for the life of the community, watermills also became elements for social aggregation.
The watermills enjoyed their last “golden age” in the difficult years of World War II, after which their slow decline began. With an integrated project known as “il Ciclo della Segale” (the Rye Cycle), local authorities decided to recover this medium altitude mountain area by rebuilding and renovating the old mill houses, the milling equipment, the mill race and the bridge. Dotted along the route are information panels showing how watermills work and how cereal crops were grown in the past: in this way the area has become a veritable open-air museum.
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