THE ‘LITTLE LOIRE’ OF LOMBARDY
Val Nicastro explores this quiet corner of Lombardy known as ‘the Little Loire’ for its picturesque castles in a rural landscape and its traditional village life – and its great local produce
The Lomellina region is an unspoiled little pocket of rural southwestern Lombardy, between Milan and Alessandria, stretching towards the Po River, which marks the border with Piedmont. As well as being the southwestern extreme of Lombardy, it is also towards the northwestern extreme of the Po Valley, that vast plain that extends from here to the Adriatic Sea and is known as the bread basket of Italy. As such, Lomellina is a region devoted to agriculture, where farmsteads and green oases share space with noble castles and ancient abbeys, rustic restaurants serve farm-fresh food, and locals are proud guardians of the secrets and traditions behind one of Italy’s most popular dishes, risotto.
1 Welcome to a land of water
THE AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPE of the Lomellina region is marked by a complex network of waterways developed through the centuries to irrigate fields and rice paddies. This has resulted in a fascinating mosaic of land and water that gives its best in spring when the flooded rice fields
