L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2021 www.italoamericano.org 20 L'Italo-Americano L i v i n g i n a c i t y h a s a l o t o f advantages: you can find every- thing you want, p u b l i c t r a n s p o r t b r i n g s everywhere, there are muse- ums and cafés, cinemas and theaters to entertain you. But if there is something the world learned in the past two years is appreciating the tranquillity and isolation of small countryside or moun- tain villages, places where life runs slower and your backyard is large, beautiful, i d y l l i c . B u c o l i c l i f e h a s become charming all of a s u d d e n , a n d m a n y c i t y dwellers have taken the leap a n d m o v e d t o d i f f e r e n t abodes, places where tran- q u i l l i t y a n d c l e a n a i r a r e king. O f c o u r s e , " i s o l a t i o n " t o d a y i s a r e l a t i v e t h i n g : with roads leading every- where and, above all, the i n t e r n e t , w e r e m a i n v e r y much connected with the w o r l d , r e g a r d l e s s o f o u r physical location. That is, unless you live in Chamois, a village in the Italian region of Valle d'Aosta that can't be reached by car. L o c a t e d i n t h e V a l t o u r n e n c h e , a t 1 8 1 5 m e t e r s ( 5 9 5 0 f e e t ) , Chamois is a commune that c o m p r i s e s s e v e r a l s m a l l hamlets, for a total of 111 citizens. The highest point of the commune is the Becca T r e c a r e p e a k , a t 3 0 3 3 meters above sea level (9950 feet). We don't know much about this pretty village's h i s t o r y : a s t h e r e a r e n o s i g n s o f p r e - R o m a n o r Roman occupation, histori- ans believe the first inhabi- tants came in the Middle Ages, after the year 1000, when demographic expan- sion transformed mountain areas once only used season- ally for animal farming into year-long settlements. The village we see today, with its picturesque homes and its little church dedicated to Saint Pantaleon (rebuilt in several occasions, the one standing today was finished in 1838), dates back to the 18th century. Beside a name change during the years of F a s c i s m , w h e n a l l n o n - I t a l i a n t o p o n y m s w e r e changed to Italian-sounding n a m e s , t h a t t r a n s f o r m e d "Chamois" in "Camosio" - bypassing, for some reason, the natural translation of the French word into the Italian "camoscio" - its life w e n t o n q u i e t l y a n d uneventfully until the 1950s, when the economic and cul- tural boom of the second post-war period called for an important decision to be taken. At the time, the village was reachable only by foot or bike, but the growth of the country's trasportation i n f r a s t r u c t u r e s m e a n t changes were needed: did locals want a road to con- nect them to the rest of the world by car? The idea of b u i l d i n g a c a r r i a g e a b l e roadway to join Chamois to Buisson, some 700 meters ( 2 3 0 0 f e e t ) b e l o w , h a d already emerged in the early 19oos, when the beauty of the village and its surround- ings were already appreaci- ated by tourists; however, Chamois people's answer to t h e q u e s t i o n w a s s i m p l e a n d , I l i k e t o i m a g i n e , uttered in the matter-of-fact style typical of Alpine peo- ple: not a chance. In 1965, 95% of the vil- l a g e ' s r e s i d e n t s v o t e d against a road connecting them to the valley below, prefering another means of t r a n s p o r t : a c a b l e w a y . W i t h i t , t h e p e o p l e o f Chamois would have an easy way to communicate with other villages, while manag- i n g t o k e e p t h e i r o w n beloved isolation and soli- tude. The rationale behind their decision was incredibly m o d e r n , f o r a t i m e w h e n environmental awareness was far from being popular: a l a r g e r r o a d w o u l d h a v e compromised the natural b e a u t y o f t h e a r e a , a n d p o t e n t i a l l y d a m a g e d t h e h a b i t a t o f m a n y a n i m a l species. T h e f i r s t c a b l e w a y w a s small, but the one you'd ride GIULIA FRANCESCHINI today if you visited is a state of the art, spacious and fast one, renewed in the early 2000s for the first time and m o d e r n i z e d o n a r e g u l a r basis. It runs every day of the year, from 7 am to 10.30 p m , w i t h r i d e s e v e r y 3 0 minutes, or 15 when neces- sary. Of course, late rides are added on special days, like the 15th of August or New Year's Eve. Chamois sounds like a lit- tle piece of heaven, especial- ly if you love the mountains and their quietness, or if you are a ski bunny, as there are chairlifts connecting the vil- lage to amazing slopes dur- ing the winter season. In spite of it, the number of its inhabitants has been dwin- dling to around 100. Don't be fooled, though: Chamois was never crowded, it had, throughout its history, at most 350 citizens. T o d a y , v i l l a g e r s a r e happy to keep their moun- tains free from the crowds of the valley below and have b e e n e x p e r i m e n t i n g w i t h sustainability and renewable energy: a small place, ready for the future. This is why C h a m o i s i s o n e o f t h e 1 9 Alpine Pearls dotting the Alps across five countries ( F r a n c e , I t a l y , A u s t r i a , Slovenia and Switzerland), villages committed to pro- tect the environment and invest in sustainability. Chamois may be isolated, but it still attracts quite a number of visitors through- o u t t h e y e a r : b e s i d e t h e already mentioned skiers, p l e n t y o f n a t u r e l o v e r s , trekkers and cyclists reach the village by foot or bike during the warmer season, to enjoy beautiful views of the mountains and experi- ence, even if just for a day, the immense peace of living in a place where time runs in harmony with nature and with the soul. Chamois is a picturesque Alpine village in Valle d'Aosta, not accessible by car (Photo: Fabrizio Robba/Dreamstime) Welcome to Chamois, the only place in Italy where cars can't go! ALL AROUND ITALY TRAVEL TIPS DESTINATIONS ACTIVITIES

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