Cossogno

Access

With regard to accessibility, Cossogno can be reached from Verbania in a short time along a road that climbs the San Bernardino valley and is one of the most direct accesses to the park. The railway stations on the valley floor, especially Verbania-Pallanza, are the main reference points for those coming from further afield, together with the motorway network converging on the Piedmont side of Lake Maggiore. The bus service dedicated to the Val Grande connects the municipality to neighbouring towns and makes it possible to plan hiking trips without the use of a car, an important element in a delicate natural context.

Introduction

Cossogno is a small mountain municipality in the Verbano-Cusio-Ossola region, located at the entrance to the San Bernardino valley and a short distance from the bottom of the Verbania valley, at a transition point between the pre-Alpine reliefs overlooking Lake Maggiore and the wilder, inland environments of the Val Grande. The municipal territory, which is large in relation to the population, stretches from 380 metres in the main town to the high mountain heights of Cima della Laurasca, which at 2195 metres is the highest elevation and one of the high points of the Val Grande National Park. The landscape alternates between wooded slopes, deep valleys, terraces that are still partly visible and scattered rural nuclei that bear witness to the valley's long history of mountain settlement.

Description

The main town centre stands on a natural terrace overlooking the valley of the San Bernardino stream, with a compact layout of leaning houses and small courtyards, flanked by historic buildings linked to religion and water exploitation. Much of the territory falls within the Val Grande protected area, making Cossogno a significant gateway to the largest wilderness area in the Italian Alps. The hydrographic network is rich in streams and side valleys, along which one encounters mule tracks, stone bridges and the remains of ancient agricultural systems, now reclaimed by the forest but still present as signs of the landscape modelling work carried out for centuries by the local communities.
The documentary origins of Cossogno date back to the 12th century, when an organised community with a church dedicated to San Brizio was already attested, inserted in the valley system that gravitated around Intra and Lake Maggiore. Over the centuries, the territory was linked to the seigniory of local families, including the Moriggia family, and gradually the traditional economy, based on agriculture, terracing and alpine pastures, was transformed in the direction of greater integration with the town of Verbania and hydroelectric activities. A significant episode was the construction, at the end of the 19th century, of one of the first alternating current power lines between Cossogno and Intra, connected to the local hydroelectric power stations and to the figure of the engineer and entrepreneur Carlo Sutermeister.
Today, the economy associates the residential and service role with respect to Verbania with the opportunities offered by tourism linked to hiking and the presence of the National Park. Agricultural and pastoral activities, once widespread on the terraces known locally as 'chempei', endure in a reduced form in the mountain pastures and seasonal 'maggenghi', some of which have also been recovered for tourist accommodation purposes. Evidence also remains of the traditional activities linked to the use of water, such as mills, oil mills and small hydroelectric plants, often included in visit itineraries promoted in collaboration with the Park and the "Acquamondo" environmental education centre.
The cultural and religious heritage is manifested in the network of churches, chapels and oratories that dot the main town and the hamlets. The parish church and the sanctuary, linked by a Via Crucis that climbs towards Ungiasca, are the main poles of local devotion, with the cult of San Brizio celebrated on 13 November. The local dialect, in which Cossogno is called 'Cosseugn', preserves expressions linked to rural life and the alpine pastures and permeates the minor toponymy.
Hiking plays a central role in the contemporary life of Cossogno, thanks to a well-developed network of trails linking the village with the alpine pastures, hamlets and the heart of the Val Grande. Themed trails such as the Religiousness Trail, the Forest Trail, the Energy Trail and the Chestnut Trail accompany the discovery of the territory and its historical and naturalistic testimonies. Of particular interest are the "Roman" bridge, the gorge known as the "Paradise of the Dogs" and the historic mule track leading to Cicogna, a small rural village considered the "capital" of the Park. The itineraries to the Conca d'Aurelio and to the Miunchio and Nolezzo alpine pastures give a complete picture of the valley's mountain landscapes, from the chestnut groves to the steepest slopes, up to the gates of the Val Grande's internal plateaus.

Information

Area: 40.26 km²
Altitude: 380m
Maximum elevation: 2,195m - Cima della Laurasca
 Number of inhabitants: 669 as of 31.07.2025
Name in dialect: Cosseugn
Inhabitants' name: cossognesi
Patron Saint: San Brizio, celebrated on 13 November
Bordering municipalities: Cursolo-Orasso, Malesco, Miazzina, Premosello-Chiovenda, San Bernardino Verbano, Trontano, Verbania
Website: www.comune.cossogno.vb.it