The name Valloria comes from "Vallis Aurea", which can be translated into “Valley of the wind“ as well as “Valley of Gold“; the olives being the gold. Either way, the name leads you to believe that there is something precious being salvaged by the 42 residents. This precious thing, whatever it may be, led a group of natives to band together to try and find out what and where it might be. And so, in 1991 under the name "Le Tre Fontane", the community of friends of Valloria came into existence. Thanks to their initiative the town is now at the centre of a whole range of artistic and cultural events, which have become fixtures in thousands of Italian and foreign calendars.



No one knows exactly who had the idea to allow the doors to be at the disposal of the artist, but nonetheless Valloria is a extraordinary open air museum for fascinating paintings. Every year a group of artists is invited to the town and are given complete artistic freedom to do whatever they please to a few doors. This event is normally held during the first weekend of July. And so Valloria has found itself a home amongst a small group of artistic towns in Italy that have joined the Association of Painted Towns, also known as the “Paesi dipinti” (“Assipad”) of Varese, founded in 1996.



The key to the excitement that Valloria radiates lies with the hospitality of its residents, who come out during the two major, and legendary, town events during the first weekends of July and August. The motto of these events is “A Valloria fai baldoria", which means nothing more than that there is a large party going on. Both events showcase not only the artistic side of painting, but also Ligurian gastronomy. After everyone is replete with all the wonderful food, they go off to dance in the olive groves, where invariably new friendships are made and everyone decides they are definitely coming back soon…or at least next year.