Roc dle Masche

Site overview

In the hamlet of Vonzo di Chialamberto (until 1831 an independent municipality), a huge, deformed boulder rising towards the north and looking towards the Vallone della Paglia cannot go unnoticed. It is called by the inhabitants of Chialamberto and neighboring municipalities Roc d’le masche, but also Balma d’Vuns (Balma di Vonzo): for centuries, an aura of fairy tales and legends has surrounded it.

The Roc dle Masche (or Balma d’Vuns – Balma di Vonzo, as it rises just above the hamlet) is a sheer, imposing boulder with a very singular shape, featuring numerous and deep hollows that legend associates with witches (masche). Approaching the foot of the great boulder, it is easy to intuit the reasons why it was associated with the masche. It is a rock of imposing presence, shaped like a parallelepiped, about thirty meters long and fifteen meters high. On the northern side, towards the mountain, a narrow and singular rocky fissure separates it with a drop from the descending slope. On the other sides, the boulder ends vertically in the meadows below. On the eastern side, a comfortable meadow hosts access to the path. The upper shelf of the boulder, not easily reachable, is covered with low vegetation and grass.

The most picturesque element of the boulder concerns the walls it develops on all four sides and on the ceiling of the balma. One can notice tortuous and pronounced loops, games of erosion that push into the interior of the rock, offering a very particular and suggestive appearance.

Legend has it that near the Roc dle Masche, every Friday and on the first day of November, the witches (masche) gathered to dance and have fun. One night, however, bored and fed up, they decided to move the boulder and take it to Lanzo to place it on the Devil’s Bridge. Once they reached their destination, the devil appeared to them, furious and wrapped in a cloak of flames. To vent his anger, he cursed them by stamping his foot on a stone, where he left an imprint that can still be seen today before the bridge. The witches persisted but realized that the boulder was too large and would never pass between the two rocks on which the bridge was anchored. They thus abandoned the enterprise and decided to return the boulder to its place. On the return journey, however, it became very heavy and their heads and limbs sank into the rock.