Angrogna – A Waldensian Refuge
A short drive, just outside Torre Pellice, is the small commune of Angrogna. Situated high up on the hill. Overlooking Torre Pellice, Angrogna commands a very nice view of the valley floor and hides a local secret in the form of a tiny underground chapel by a mostly unknown religious sect.
The Waldensians
The Waldensians were and are a pre-reformation sect that was extremely persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church as heretical. Therefore, they had to take their religious practices in many places underground, in order to escape discrimination, capture, torture and in many cases death. In Angrogna you will find one such hide out, a small cave on a mountainside used as a chapel. Here members would secretly meet in order to carry out their many religious practices without the notice of the church or local onlookers.
The Waldensian Chapel
The cave is a poor collection of boulders left by the ice age that apparently produced a cave structure suitable enough for such practices. It is difficult to find, if they were not signs and an entrance stairway to its opening. Even then, the entrance is wet, a very tight fit for most present individuals, and thus requires a degree climbing to actually reach the inner chamber.
The inner chamber is a small, wet and very dark room about five by ten meters. It includes a small makeshift altar, but nothing else. In its day, it must have been something to experience during a mass.
The School Of Odin-Bertot
Very close by and less than a few hundred meter walk from the hidden chapel, is the School of Odin-Bertot.
Reminiscent of one room school houses in many other rural areas, this one specifically served the mountain people of the area. Since the above link explains all, a few more photographs of the interior and the museum are all that’s in order at this point.
How To Get There
There are several ways to get there, either via the School of Odin, or by the parking area further away. Since maps are worth a thousands words, here are two that you will find once there, but they also show the overall area so you can use this with what ever map, app or device you have to cross reference your way there.
Directions
Between Torre Pellice and Luserna San Giovanni you should find road 161. At the traffic circle, take the road towards Angrogna. You should also see signs for the Guieiza d’la Tana, the Chabas and the Vaccera. Keep following road to the main town square, then continue for about two kilometers and you will arrive in the hamlet of Serre. Turn right, you should see the beginning of the path and the signs “Chanforan” and “Odin”. Walk the path, following the sign for Ghieisa D’La Tana. You will eventually come to a wooden railing with the words Entrata on it, walk down the steps, you have arrived at the temple.