Coassolo Torinese

Coassolo Torinese lies in the Lanzo valleys and has lost half its people in a century. The name speaks of water: the root coass- is thought to come from a Latin aquaticum reshaped by speakers of Celtic or pre-Roman Ligurian tongues, meaning a place settled near waters. In Piedmontese the village is Coasseul, like Coazzolo near Asti and Quassolo near Ivrea, spelled otherwise in Italian.

At the edge of a wooded slope stands a votive pillar: bare stonework between two brick pilasters, a moulded cornice roofed with dry-laid slabs, an iron cross on top and, at the centre, a white marble relief of the Madonna and Child.