Parco Naturale di Conca Cialancia

The name of the town probably derives from the dialect word "prie", meaning a place deriving from a stone quarry; according to another interpretation, it derives from the Piedmontese word "prè", indicating that Perrero represents the stomach of Valle Germanasca, which preserves the wild charm of the mountains and its towns made of ancient houses where local traditions still survive.
In the past, the town was an important village, a commercial crossroads, seat of the magistrate's court and administrative seat of 11 Municipalities which, since 1928, have been partly unified and which still form part of the Municipality of Perrero. In the Middle Ages, the area was defended by some fortifications and castles, residences of local lords, and it was also the theater of bloody fights during the religious wars.

Among the most interesting fortifications:

• Batteria Monte Castello, fortification clinging a mountain dominating the town. Built in the years 1897/98, it was transformed into an artillery stationing in 1928, and was definitely abandoned in 1940.
• Batteria Podurante, situated 1 km in the north of Mt. Castello. Despite the considerable decay of the military structure - which was abandoned in 1928, the trench and a munitions reserve are still rather interesting.
• Torre delle Banchette, probably founded in the 14th century, it was occupied in turn by the Waldenses and by the army of Savoia since the time of the religious wars (16th century). The ruins it is possible to observe include a wall covered with vegetation and a well that has been recently filled up.
• Fort Louis is a fortification built in the 14th century to stop the Waldenses' invasion. It was abandoned in the 18th century and today it is possible to find some traces of it in the heaps of stone and the rests of the silted up walls.
  The castles, without a doubt two in the Middle Ages, are one in Cassas and the other uphill the administrative center: today it is possible to see only their ruins, consisting of walls covered with spontaneous vegetation and traces of entrances.

As far as religious architecture is concerned, in Perrero you can visit the church of Santa Maria Maddalena, rebuilt in the mid-18th century. It preserves a "Last Supper" by don Ricchiardone, the artistic glasswall by Martino Fassi, and four wooden lunettes by the sculptor Nastasio, representing scenes from Jesus' life (1974). The Waldensian Temple is also of great importance: in 1862 the Waldensian Community purchased a house in the town center to use it as a parsonage with an adjacent piece of land to build a place of worship, which was built with a rectangular plan and a small apse on the north-western side, surmounted by a semi-spherical calotte. You can visit Waldensian Churches and Temples in all the adjacent towns: they are a symbol of the cultural tradition of the valley.
The monument Perrero dedicated to its dead stands as a symbol of the World War times: in particular, it is dedicated to General Giulio Martinat, a learned person with a strong moral rigour who fought during World War I as a tenant first, and captain later.
Therefore, Perrero is a small town preserving pearls of culture and history, like fortifications, castles and churches. Moving a little far away it is possible to discover another town, Prali, where you will find two important museums dedicated to the cultural features of the valley:

• Scopriminiera: the museum of the talc mines is formed by two galleries, Paola and Gianna, equipped for visits and able to make the visitors experience the miners' feelings: darkness, humidity, the noise of explosions and drillers. Outside the galleries there is a museum exhibit introducing the local community, mining activity, and the life of the workers.
  Info: 0121/806987
  
  
• Prali and Val Germanasca Waldensian Museum: the museum, built in 1965 to provide information on the Waldensian history and culture, is situated in one of the most ancient temples of the Waldensian Valleys and presents, through a series of precious documents, the origins of this "people-church", its arrival and diffusion in the alpine valleys.
  Info: 0121/950203

From the historical point of view, the Park area should be considered in a larger territorial context characterized over the centuries by the mining activity tradition and the presence of the Waldenses. Since the mid-19th century, the local community devoted itself to the talc extraction on the slopes of Rocca Bianca, with mining sites situated between 1,800 and 2,000 meters of altitude, and built at the entrance of the galleries encampments used to house workers, equipment, mineral, and animals. In 1893, in order to provide for the difficulties linked to transport, a narrow-gauge railway line - cableway was built. At the beginning of the 20th century, the galleries were closed to exploit the more accessible and advantageous deposits of Gianna and Fontane. To understand how the mining settlements were organized, it is possible to visit the exhibit of the ancient professions in Pomaretto (Italian text) and the museum "Scopriminiera" in Prali (Italian text), providing both useful information on the historical and cultural aspects linked to the mining activity.

The mining activity developed in a particular social substratum characterized by the presence of the Waldenses, who deeply marked the history of Val Germanasca and the adjacent valleys, leading to changes in the behavior, collective imaginations, and culture. The presence of the Waldenses in the Pinerolese valleys was not fortuitous, but depended on the morphology of the territory, characterized by valleys defended by high mountains and narrow ravines, an ideal place to welcome the victims of persecution. As a matter of fact, the movement originated around 1170 and the followers of Waldo, called the "Poor of Lyons" created one of the many medieval sects condemned and excommunicated by the Catholic Church. In order to escape from mass persecutions, they sought shelter in various parts of Europe, and also in the Pinerolese valleys. Only with Napoleon the repressive laws against them lost their value. In the period between Restoration and the Albertine Statute, the foreign Protestant Churches helped the Waldenses: besides providing for their subsistence, they also dealt with the theological training of clergymen, founding several social organizations and schools. Also thanks to the training of local communities, the social context in which the mining activity was born had an adequate basic culture, unlike the context of the industries developing in the valley bottoms.
In 1848 the Waldenses had access to all the political and civil rights, like all the other citizens, and the reconstruction period began. During the industrial development of those years, they engaged in spreading their faith outside the valleys, in recovering their historical memory, and in reawakening in the communities the interest for the past. They lived according to an ethic based on evangelical purity, and the teaching of the Waldensian Pastor were their rules of life and examples to follow; working in the factory was considered immoral, while the concept of work had a great value, since it could not be avoided and was considered formative. Working in the mines, even it could not be a choice for many of them, was accepted, as demonstrated by the mining tradition characterizing Val Germanasca.