This route covers the entire lower Leventina Valley and part of the right bank of the Riviera. The variant entirely along the valley floor follows the path of the national importance bike route no. 3. The pedestrian variant between Iragna and Lodrino via the mountains (5.7 km in 3h00) is particularly evocative as it allows you to discover some of the hidden treasures of the Riviera and to closely observe the activities of one of the largest quarries in the region.

The Via della Pietra area, including the whole Riviera, the lower parts of the Leventina and Blenio Valleys, and the northern Bellinzonese, is closely linked to stone, both in its strictly naturalistic sense and as regards the historical and social aspects related to this natural resource.

From a purely geological standpoint, this is the deepest heart of the Alps. Since Prehistory, stone has profoundly marked this territory, located since the Late Middle Ages along the Via delle Genti and characterized by its link to building stone from the modern era onwards. Even today, the Riviera is the most important quarrying basin for natural stone in Switzerland in terms of volume extracted.

With the construction of the Saint Gotthard railway at the end of the 19th century, natural stone from the Riviera spread throughout Switzerland. Monuments and public buildings – especially railway stations, bank headquarters, and civic buildings – featuring Riviera gneisses or decorations in Castione marble are found across the country. The stone of the Riviera has also crossed oceans, steppes, and deserts. In addition to numerous European countries, it can be found in New York, Moscow, Saudi Arabia, and even in the almost inaccessible Kazakhstan.

The Via della Pietra: all details, descriptive sheets of the routes, and in-depth information related to this itinerary can be found at: http://www.viadellapietra.ch/.