Scarpatetti

The ancient commoners’ quarter of Scarpatetti, which may have named after the Scarpategii, a Grisons family, has kept its traditional features almost intact: one sees plenty of typical rural houses, with wooden stairs and landings, stone “involts”, supports for oil lamps and stone benches.

Passing through the quarter up to the Masegra Castle, one sees signs of the people’s religious devotion: three small chapels dedicated to the worship of the Virgin, marking the three periods in which the street celebrated its holidays.

The first is dedicated to Maria Ausiliatrice, the second, at the level of the Schenardi stairs, is known as the “Madonna of the grapes”, because of the wooden statue (seventeenth century) of the Madonna and Child holding a bunch of grapes, and the last, near Masegra Castle, is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Maria.