Ostana
Member of I Borghi più belli d'Italia
Facing the north and east walls of Monviso, Ostana is a scatter of Occitan-speaking hamlets on a sunny slope of the upper Po valley. Depopulation shrank it from over a thousand people in the 1930s to a few dozen; in 2016 it celebrated its first birth in 28 years. Cobbled lanes and votive chapels link the hamlets, and each June the village awards a prize for writing in minority languages.
Highlights
- Views of Monviso's north and east faces
- The hamlet of Sant'Antonio, with date-carved stones on its huddled houses
- A medieval fresco in the small church of San Bernardo
- Premio Ostana, a June prize for writing in mother tongues
- Toma d'alpeggio cheese and potato and buckwheat polenta
Text adapted from Wikipedia (Ostana (IT), Ostana (EN)), Wikivoyage (Ostana). Available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Population: 85
Local food & wine
- Potato and buckwheat polentaDishServed in slices with cheese, aioli and pumpkin sauce
- Toma d'alpeggioCheeseAlpine pasture cheese made by local herders
- Banho dal jòousDishThursday sauce made from buttermilk left over from butter-making
Adapted from Wikivoyage (Ostana). Available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where to sleep
8 places to stay within 3 km
- Hotels 5
- B&Bs and guest houses 2
- Campsites 1
Data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Nearby member villages
- Chianale · 16 km
- Saint-Véran · 25 km
- Usseaux · 42 km
- Mont-Dauphin · 45 km
- Barolo · 60 km