Hey kids!
Ready for a new visit?
The little river you can see in this picture is famous because, long time ago, it was cause of separation among people from Angrogna.
This creek, that originates from Barbotta and flows into the Angrogna river at the bottom of the valley (just before Reynaud Rock) is called “Vengie”; it is also known by its Italian name “Rio Revangero” (nb: “rio” is another Italian word for “creek”).
On the two sides of the creek two different dialects are spoken: on the East side people talk in “sengianin”, which is very similar to Piedmontese dialect; on the West side the common dialect is called “angrognino” and sounds like Occitan language.
The two dialects are very very different, and both of them are still spoken nowadays!
It is thought that the reason for this separation is that, long ago in the past (14th century), the two sides of the creek used to belong to two different lordships: Mombrone’s Lordship on the West side, Nizza and Campiglione’s Lordship on the East side.
The ancient hatred no longer exists, and people don’t call each other, depending on where they lived, people “d’ tsai” (from this side) and people “d’dlai” (from that side) any more… but – trust me – time ago it would have been very hard for a young man in love to see her girlfriend, if she lived on the other side of the creek!
How to get there:
from Provincial Road 161, between Torre Pellice and Luserna San Giovanni, at the roundabout take the road to Angrogna (you’ll also find the traffic signals to Guieiza d’la Tana, Chabas and Vaccera). Follow the road and you’ll get to the main square of San Lorenzo, then continue for about 800 m and you will find on the right the sign “Torrente Vengie e Roccha Filera”.
Do you want to read the tale in Italian ?