Bàrech (Traditional Stone Animal Enclosure)
Hiking Highlight
Recommended by 7 hikers
This Highlight is in a protected area
Please check local regulations for: Parco delle Orobie Valtellinesi
Location: Valleve, Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy
Best Hikes to Bàrech (Traditional Stone Animal Enclosure)
Tips
The bàrech (or bàrek) was used as a pen for animals, so that they would not disperse at night. Its construction also had the collateral function of freeing the pasture from stones, thus allowing more grass to grow and therefore making the mountain pasture more productive. Where a bàrech was not necessary, the stones were then stacked in the piles that we have all had the opportunity to see many times in mountain pastures.
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•August 10, 2024
A historic example of high-mountain pastoralism, a vestige of human-led landscape modification. The Alta Via della Val Tartano trail passes just above.
translated by•August 20, 2025
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