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Very widespread throughout the Alps, the pylons and votive shrines still characterize the mountain landscape today with their reassuring presence along the ancient paths, at the entrance to villages, near crossroads, bridges, springs or in danger areas. Often considered "minor" buildings, due to their limited artistic value and the sometimes moving naivety of the representations they contain, these works nevertheless take us back to the very roots of traditional Alpine civilisation, of which they constitute one of the most authentic expressions. If we only ask ourselves about the reasons for the buildings and analyze the places in which they stand, the architectural typologies, the images of the saints depicted and the inscriptions, sometimes an original mix of dialect expressions and the Italian language, their important cultural and anthropological. An analysis of this type takes us back to a religiosity of other times, characterized by the need for protection and the relationship of dependence and fear that linked the mountaineer to nature, but also to highlight the influence still exerted today by cults pre-Christians and the conforming work of the Church, following the Council of Trent. This enormous heritage finds its maximum expression in the valleys least attacked by mass tourism and therefore best preserved by homologation to the urban cultural model, such as the Maira and Varaita valleys in Cuneo and the Soana valley in Turin, to which a particular in-depth study is dedicated in a context that examines the entire western Alpine arc. Through the proposal of itineraries and the reporting of the most significant examples of these forms of popular devotion, we intend to contribute to their appreciation and raise awareness among local institutions and communities of the responsibility to preserve them from degradation and the risks of inconsistent restorations, to pass them on intact to future generations.