An excellent opportunity to get to know the village is to walk through its streets to observe the sundials that are painted on the façades of the houses.
Alleghe hosts no less than 16 sundials of different types. See the route with photos here 14 of these can be seen along the route described here. Two of them are 'natural' sundials, i.e. reference points represented by mountains that indicate a particular time of day or year, some at Italic hours and most at French hours, but let's see the route together. From the central Piazza Kennedy, one descends towards the lake along Via Monte Pape.
At the rectory, looking south, you can admire the 'Bec de Mezzodì' (natural sundial), a rocky outcrop that dominates the valley and, as its name suggests, the passage of the sun on the perpendicular of the peak indicates the noon hour of the real local time. Just before the lake on a house near the end of the descent is another sundial.
This one is special because it is in Italic hours, i.e. the time system in force in Italy from the 14th to the 18th century when the day ended with the setting of the sun, and the sundials using this system make it possible to know how many hours are left until sunset. It is displayed on a wall sloping to the west. We now skirt the lake to the right before the intersection with ViaEuropa where, observing Monte Civetta during the spring equinox, it is possible to see the passage of the sun through a hole (equinoctial hole) in the great wall of the Civetta.
This is the second natural sundial announcing the arrival of spring. We go back up Via Europa and on the south façade of the church is sundial no. 4 of this tour - it is a traditional sundial, with a stylus perpendicular to the wall On the west façade, on the other hand, hidden by a painting of St Christopher, is an ancient Italic hour sundial. (5) Linked to it is a fascinating story about the dating of the formation of the Alleghe lake. You can read the details of this extraordinary research by Prof De Donà here.
To the left of this sundial we take the small path that descends into Via Piccola. We walk up it in the direction of the Town Hall where the sundial (no. 6) is located on the south side. It marks the true local time and was made by Prof. De Donà and painted by Gianni Caracoi. It also shows the equinoctial line and declination curves. It is equipped with a polar stylus and the ever-present motto. One goes further up via De Gasperi and the next sundial (no. 7) can be found in the courtyard of the Alleghe primary school, in this sundial on the sundial line is drawn the analemma
From here we cut into Via dele scuole and at the junction with Via Coldai we enter the cobbled road that descends towards Pizzeria Rudatis, but we stop immediately to admire the sundial No. 8 on the side of the first house. We return to Via Coldai and walk along it for about three hundred metres when near a hayloft we take an obvious passage that leads back to Via De Gasperi, where a little further on the house before the hairpin bend there is a marvellous sundial (9) with a polar stylus and a fine painting that recalls the Dolomites.
After the hairpin bend before a house, climb up the path to Via Valgrande and from here continue up the obvious path to Fontanive on the left. We continue passing a house on the right and after an asphalted uphill ramp we reach via De Gasperi again, where after a few metres we find sundial no. 10. We return towards Alleghe but only as far as the junction with Via Serenissima where, on the first house on the right at the top, we can admire a marvellous sundial with a very apt painting and motto. (11)
Continue along Via Serenissima until bending to the left along a path towards the hamlet of Casaril. Before reaching it in the garden of a private house are the next two sundials, but unfortunately not visible from the road. (12-13) but can be seen in the photos of this route. When you reach Casaril after the small square at the head of Via Santa Maria dei Battuti, you will find sundial no. 14. From here you descend through Piazza Vecchia and end the loop back in Piazza Kennedy
