Beyond the rock: the journey continues

The Ex Chapel of the Fort of Exilles is hosting Beyond the rock: the journey continues, the closing event of the 2026 programme for Colombano 500, created to mark the 500th anniversary of the start of work on the Pertus tunnel by Colombano Romean, the extraordinary hydraulic tunnel carved into the mountain between 1526 and 1533.

• 3pm-7pm: official ceremony for the special postmark issued by Poste Italiane to mark the 500th anniversary of the Pertus

• 3.30pm: Roberto Micali and Renato Sibille retrace the history of the Pertus and the journey of Colombano 500, whilst also presenting the campaign to include the Pertus amongst the FAI’s Places of the Heart

• 3.45 pm: VAN-Verso Altre Narrazioni presents the musical reading The echo of the chisel 

• 4pm: the writer, journalist and mountaineer Enrico Camanni speaks on the theme The Transformed Mountain, reflecting on changes to the Alpine landscape and the relationship between people, resources and the mountains

• 4.30 pm: launch of the Colombano 500 photography and literary contests, which will continue the story of Pertus into 2027

• 5.15 pm: Camanni in conversation with Stefano Ditella, geologist and representative of Fridays for Future, in an intergenerational discussion dedicated to the future of the highlands

• from 6pm: time for the feast with Occitan music and dancing alongside Parenaperde