Lecco (Lecco dialect: Lècch) is an Italian town of 47 892
inhabitants, the capital of the province of the same name in
Lombardy. Raised to the status of provincial capital by decree of
the President of the Republic of March 6, 1992, it obtained the
title of city on June 22, 1848 and today its urban agglomeration
exceeds one hundred thousand inhabitants. Known for being the place
where the writer Alessandro Manzoni set The Betrothed, the city is
located in one of the vertices of the Lariano Triangle, on the left
bank of the Adda as well as overlooking the eastern branch of Lake
Como and is included in the Orobic pre-Alps , between the Grigne
group and the Resegone.
Strategic crossroads for the
Valtellina, Lecco assumed increasing importance during the Middle
Ages when, following the Peace of Constance, it was annexed to the
Duchy of Milan which gave it the current urban layout, but it was in
the second half of the nineteenth century, during the Austrian, that
the city went through a particularly flourishing period that led to
the construction of palaces and arcades in the neoclassical style.
After the unification of Italy, Lecco established itself as one of
the first industrial centers of Italy thanks to the development of
the steel industries, already active in the 12th century, which gave
it the nickname of the city of iron.
Neighborhoods
Lecco is divided into several districts (called
rioni) which have very distinct characteristics. There are 14 historic
districts in the city, although the new Colle Santo Stefano was added in
the 20th century. The districts are divided into districts, each of
which generally has its own coat of arms and its own social color in use
during the folkloric and sporting events that take place annually in the
city.
Acquate is the district believed to be the birthplace of
Renzo and Lucia; autonomous municipality with an agricultural vocation
was annexed to Lecco in 1923 and is located in the eastern periphery of
the center at the foot of the hill between the Caldone and Bione streams
and includes the districts of Bassana, Colongardo, Concezione, Poteo,
Vicinali and Zuccarello.
Borgo (or historic center) was originally
included within the medieval walls between the lake, the Caldone stream,
the railway line and the Basilica while today it includes the adjacent
areas of Punta Maddalena, Malpensata, Broletto, Lazzaretto and La
Piccola.
Belledo is located close to the Germanedo district in the
south-west area of the centre.
Bonacina, initially belonging to the
municipality of Olate, is the least populous district of the city; it is
located on the hill called Valle dei Merli between the districts of
Acquate and Olate in the valley of the Caldone torrent and includes the
locality of Sant'Egidio.
Caleotto is located close to the historic
center and the Pescarenico district; in this area are the Villa Manzoni
and the Meridiana business centre.
Castello is the district located
adjacent to the center in the north-east area; autonomous municipality
until annexation to Lecco in 1923 was provost seat until 1584.
Chiuso
is the southernmost district of the city located between the Maggianico
district of which it was a fraction and the municipality of Vercurago;
includes the locality of Chiusa Visconti and Rivabella.
Colle Santo
Stefano is located at the foot of Mount San Martino and is the most
recent of the districts of the city since the landslides, which began
disastrously in 1921, slowed down the urbanization of the area until the
period between 1950 and 1964 when a vast increase of large buildings
tightly closed to cover each lawn along the axis of the tree-lined
avenue initially dedicated to the princess of Piedmont in 1933 then
named after Filippo Turati.
Germanedo is located two kilometers east
of the center at the foot of the Val Comera where the Bione stream flows
and includes the localities of Cesura, Paese (former districts of
Capolino, Santa Giustina and Ponte), Villaggio, Eremo, Belfiore and
Neguggio; the main hospital of the Province of Lecco is located in this
district.
Laorca was annexed to Lecco in 1923 and is the northernmost
district of the city in the valley between Mount Melma and Pian dei
Resinelli and includes the localities of Malavedo, Prato la Valle and
Pomedo; inhabited since the 13th century, it was an important nucleus
where the ironworking industries were of national importance.
Maggianico is located between the slopes of Mount Magnodeno and Lake
Garlate about three kilometers south of the center and includes the
towns of Missirano and Barco; merged into Lecco in 1928.
Olate is
considered the parish of Renzo and Lucia and is located between the
districts of Acquate, Castello and San Giovanni in the eastern suburbs
of the historic centre; it includes the localities of Cabadone,
Camarcadone, Cabagaglio and Colle dello Zucco where the Palazzotto of
Don Rodrigo is located.
Pescarenico is the area just south of the
center between the Adda river, the railway and the mouth of the Bione
stream; includes the districts of Biun, Cucagna, Cunvent, Era, Fussaa,
Isola, Piscen, S. Ambros and Stradun; in addition to being, as the name
itself reminds us, the fishermen's quarter, it still remains one of the
most characteristic points of the city, especially along the river where
narrow alleys intersect.
Rancio is located in the north-eastern
heights of the urban area at the foot of Monte San Martino and includes
the nuclei of Arlenico, Castione, Gera, Rancio Inferiore and Rancio
Superiore; common to itself until 1923 it was used for agriculture and
cattle breeding.
San Giovanni alla Castagna is located on the heights
of the north-eastern area of the urban center between the districts of
Castello and Laorca along the Gerenzone stream and includes the
localities of Cereda, Cavagna and Varigione; agriculture and iron works
contributed to its expansion.
Numerous religious and civil buildings are present in the city of
Lecco. The main ones are: the basilica of San Nicolò with the adjacent
bell tower, symbol of the city, the Palazzo delle Paure, the Azzone
Visconti bridge, the medieval tower, the Teatro della Società and the
famous Villa Manzoni; the latter was declared a national monument in
1940 by King Vittorio Emanuele III simultaneously with the former
Convent of the Capuchin friars.
Religious architecture
Basilica of San Nicolò and the bell tower
it is the main religious
structure of the city and is dedicated to the patron saint of sailors;
it is located in a large churchyard preceded by a double gray stone
staircase near Piazza Mario Cermenati. It has a neoclassical layout
given to it by the architect Giuseppe Bovara in its expansion. Inside it
contains seventeenth-century furnishings, a baptismal font from 1596 and
Romanesque parts from the eleventh century. The adjacent bell tower
rises alongside it for a good 96 meters resting on an ancient medieval
tower. It is in neo-Gothic style with a polygonal shape with a cusp.
Commonly called Il matitone, it was inaugurated on Christmas Eve 1904
and is still among the ten tallest bell towers in Italy as well as being
the symbol of the city.
Church of Santa Marta
located in the
central via Mascari, it is among the oldest places of worship in the
city since it was built in the thirteenth century and initially
dedicated to San Calimero, today it has an eighteenth-century porticoed
facade and rich baroque decorations inside; the simple barrel-vaulted
nave dates from 1615. It underwent a complete restoration in 2012.
Shrine of Our Lady of Victory
it is located in Via Azzone
Visconti and was erected in memory of the fallen of the Great War and
conceived as a popular vote for the narrow escape; the construction
works, financed thanks to the donation of Signora Domenica De Dionisi,
began in 1918, continuing until 1932, the year of her consecration. The
building is characterized by granite cladding alternating with white
stone from Val Chiavenna.
Church of Saints Materno and Lucia and
the former Capuchin convent
the church (originally dedicated to San
Francesco) and the former Capuchin convent are located in Pescarenico;
they were made famous by Manzoni who, in the Promessi Sposi, mentions it
as the convent seat of Fra Cristoforo. The building, built at the behest
of San Carlo Borromeo, was built in 1576 by Hurtaldo Mendoza, knight of
Sant'Jago and governor of the plain of Lecco, as a temple for the
adjacent Capuchin convent. Consecrated in 1600, it became a barracks for
the French troops in 1789, while in 1810 the convent was suppressed at
the behest of Napoleon Bonaparte and the church was renovated,
especially in the facade, attributed to the architect Giuseppe Bovara;
initially dedicated to San Materno in 1824 it was later associated with
Lucia, presumably in homage to Manzoni. Today it is the parish seat.
Inside there are some valuable works such as the altarpiece painted by
Giovan Battista Crespi known as Cerano which illustrates the patron
saints Francis and Gregory the Great adoring the Trinity and a singular
seventeenth-century work of art referable to Neapolitan culture
representing the altar of the 'Addolorata where nine compositions in
polychrome wax and papier-mâché relating to the life of Christ, the
Virgin and Saints Clare and Francis are kept inside as many glass boxes.
The high altar dates back to the sixteenth century. Of particular
interest is the triangular section bell tower behind the parish church,
built in 1717. Few remains of the adjacent convent such as the courtyard
and some cells.
Church of Saints Gervasio and Protasio
it is
located in the district of Castello and the first documents date it
around the end of the thirteenth century with a main architecture of the
Romanesque type, until 1584 it was the provost seat then transferred to
the basilica of San Nicolò.
Church of Saints Vitale and Valeria
(known as Don Abbondio)
it is located in the district of Olate in the
square of the same name and is traditionally believed to be the parish
in which Don Abbondio was the curate as well as the church where Renzo
and Lucia were married; built between the fifteenth century and 1765
with a further extension of the nave in 1934, when the facade was
restored in the Baroque style, it retains only the bell tower from the
old.
Church of San Giovanni Evangelista
it is located in the
district of San Giovanni alla Castagna in Piazza Cavallotti; it was
rebuilt at the end of the 17th century and contains various wooden
furnishings dating back to the 17th century, an altarpiece with the
Deposition of a follower of Vincenzo Civerchio and a painted terracotta
statue of the Virgin of Sorrows.
St. Andrew's Church
it is
located in the Maggianico district in via Zelioli; a parish was erected
at the behest of San Carlo Borromeo in 1567, in 1615 Cardinal Federico
Borromeo in his visit ordered the construction of a new church (giving
specific indications on its structure) because the previous one was in a
very bad state and was no longer sufficient to accommodate the
population of the period. The works lasted for a few years until
November 30, 1631 when it was solemnly consecrated on the day of the
feast of Sant'Andrea. The layout of the church has remained
substantially unchanged, also emphasizing the work of the architect
Giuseppe Bovara who restored it and who also designed the side altars in
the neoclassical style to house two Renaissance polyptychs, one by
Bernardino Luini (in the chapel on the left) and the other repeatedly
attributed to Gaudenzio Ferrari (in the chapel on the right). The latter
work depicts Saint Anthony the Abbot between Saints Ambrose and Jerome.
In 1763 the bell tower was built while for the bells we had to wait over
a decade when on 23 January 1777 the Crespis from Crema arrived in
Maggianico and arranged everything for the casting of the new 5 bells
which took place in April to the great satisfaction of the parish priest
Giovan Battista Conti, who in May 1790 had the parish church repaved by
Antonio Conca of Varenna. Giuseppe Bovara in the 1820s arrives in
Maggianico restoring the seventeenth-century portico, designing the new
side altar dedicated to the Madonna, personally promoting and
supervising the restoration of the polyptychs, transferred to canvas
between 1831 and the following year. In 1843 the new high altar was
built in neoclassical style on a design by the architect Adriano Gazzari
while the statues of the angels are by Gaetano Benzoni. In the decades
that followed, the restoration works of the exterior of the church
followed one another, obtaining the large arched rose window in the
façade; while at the end of the 19th century the then parish priest
Giuseppe Dell'Oro had episodes of the life of Sant'Andrea frescoed in
the presbytery. In addition to the two large Renaissance polyptychs, the
parish church houses other valuable canvases from the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries placed in the baptistery.
Church of San
Rocco
it is located in the Maggianico district in the locality of
Barco and was erected in 1843 by the architect Giuseppe Bovara after the
vote that the population of the district made against cholera.
Church of San Giovanni Battista (known as Beato Serafino)
located in
the Chiuso district, it is famous because inside it houses the remains
of Don Serafino Morazzone, parish priest of the church from 1773 to 1822
and confessor of Alessandro Manzoni, who later became Blessed in 2011,
in Piazza Duomo in Milan by Cardinals Dionigi Tettamanzi and Angelo
Amato . It has a typically Romanesque appearance with a gabled façade
and a single nave interior where numerous 15th-century frescoes
attributed to Giovan Pietro da Cemmo depicting the Crucifixion and a
17th-century sandstone balustrade are conserved. In the 19th century the
facade and the bell tower were renovated. Mentioned in the XXIII chapter
of The Betrothed, in the episode of the meeting between the Unnamed and
Cardinal Federico Borromeo, it is the place where the famous conversion
of the Unnamed took place.
Church of San Giuseppe
it is
located in the Caleotto district in via Baracca and was built between
1947 and 1951 to a design by Carlo Wilhem. Inside you can admire the
paintings of Orlando Sora, which have become the major and famous works
of this artist closely linked to the city. The church was dedicated,
through a Eucharistic celebration held on 18 March 2012 by Cardinal
Angelo Scola, to San Giuseppe, patron saint of workers, since it stands
in an area where, starting from the end of the 19th century and
throughout the 20th the most important national iron industries
flourished thanks to which the city of Lecco was given the nickname of
"Manchester of Italy".
Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows (called
della Rovinata)
it stands in the locality of Rovinata on a panoramic
terrace located on the morainic slope in the district of Germanedo. It
was built between 1849 and 1859 following a landslide that hit that
area, leaving the chapel previously erected as a place of worship intact
along the path that led men to the fields. This event, judged miraculous
by the German population, led to a growing veneration of the place, so
much so that the then parish priest Don Andrea Magni, with the
assistance and help of the population, decided to build a church there.
It can be reached via a cobbled mule track, in a wooded area, along
which the first thirteen chapels dedicated to as many stations of the
Via Crucis are distributed, while the last two are located next to the
sanctuary itself. It houses above the altar an elegant painting
depicting Our Lady of Sorrows pierced by seven swords donated by the
Marquis Paolo Serponti Mirasole.
Church of Saints Cyprian and
Justin Martyrs
it stands a few steps from the Lecco hospital in the
Germanedo district but there is no certain information about its
construction even if the little information allows us to establish that
its origins date back to the 1500s. Initially dedicated only to Santa
Giustina it was dedicated to San Cipriano only in 1608. The church was
frequented by Antonio Stoppani and above all by Alessandro Manzoni, a
childhood friend of the then parish priest Don Alessandro Bolis from
whom Manzoni is said to have derived the figure of the fearful Don
Abbondio.
Inside the church it is possible to admire the spandrels
with the frescoes depicting the four evangelists made by Antonio Sibella
from Bergamo in 1882. The beautiful simulacrum of the Madonna del
Rosario, co-patron of the parish, dates back to 1899. The bell tower is
among the tallest in the city (about 42 m); raised in 1931 to a design
by Bernardo Sironi, it houses a concert of five bells cast in the same
year by the Fratelli Barigozzi foundry in Milan. Due to the strong
demographic increase recorded after the Second World War, the parish
church of Germanedo in the years 1966/1970 underwent an expansion
intervention based on a project by Bruno Bianchi, thus radically
modifying the original structure.
Church of San Francesco
d'Assisi
it is located in Piazza Cappuccini, in the Santo Stefano
district and was built by the architect Mino Fiocchi following the
return of the Capuchin friars to the city. The architect revisited the
Palladian and neoclassical languages in an essential and functional key
and set up a large perspective backdrop with a large courtyard on Viale
Filippo Turati within which to place the large church. The building
consists of a central body around which eight chapels open, while on the
two sides there are respectively the theater and the oratory with the
adjacent convent. It was inaugurated on March 18, 1951 following the
authorization by Cardinal Schuster in 1948.
Church of Saints
George, Catherine, Egidio
it is located in the Acquate district and
already existed in 1232 and over time the building underwent various
improvements until 1846 when it was given its current neoclassical
appearance as well as the bell tower, which was originally a massive
Romanesque tower. Internally, the left wall of the presbytery houses a
16th-century painting - attested as an altarpiece in 1608 - depicting
Saints George, Giles, Ambrose and Catherine around the Holy Family.
Church of the Sacred Heart
the parish church of the Bonacina
district is a recent building from 1925 located in the center of the
neighborhood which replaced the previously demolished church dedicated
to San Bernardino. Built on a project by the engineer Bernardo Sironi,
it has a typically neo-Gothic architectural style.
Tabernacle of
the Bravi
it is a small chapel on the side of Via Tonio e Gervaso
which Manzoni describes as the place of the famous ambush of Don
Abbondio by the Bravi to report to him the message of their lord Don
Rodrigo.
"This wedding is not to be done, neither tomorrow nor ever."
(Alessandro Manzoni, The Betrothed, chapter I, 1840)
Statue of
San Nicolò
this statue is positioned on a base in the waters of the
lake at Punta della Maddalena, near the mouth of the Gerenzone stream.
Positioned in 1955 and restored in 2013, the two-metre-high bronze work
covered in gold leaf by Giacomo Luzzana depicts the saint in oriental
episcopal garb in a gesture of protecting the lake and the city.
Religious architecture of Laorca
Cemetery of Laorca and cemetery
church of San Giovanni, monumental complex built around the caves of
Corno Medale.
Parish Church of Saints Peter and Paul.
Church of the Blessed Virgin of the Assumption of Versasio
Church
of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary of Malnago
Blessed Virgin of the
Rosary of Varigione
Church of San Francesco in Falghera
Church of
the Madonna della Neve at Piani d'Erna
Sanctuary of Our Lady of
Lourdes in Acquate (1934)
Church dedicated to the Immaculate
Conception in Acquate
Chapel of the Deaths of Plague in Pescarenico
Church of San Carlo in Castione
Church of San Bartolomeo known as the
Seminary in Castello
Monument to San Giovanni Nepomuceno in Castello
Church of Saints Nazario and Celso in Castello
Church of Santa Maria
Assunta in Rancio
Church of the Immaculate Conception in Germanedo
Church of Sant'Antonio in Maggianico
Church of Santa Maria Assunta in
Chiuso
Monument to don Serafino Morazzone in Chiuso
Church of
Sant'Antonio Abate in Malavedo
Church of San Giovanni ai Morti in
Laorca
Monumental cemetery
Palace of Fears
it is located in the central Piazza XX Settembre
and was built in 1916 on the remains of the old customs building erected
in 1905. It was built in a section of the old walls to house the
headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce established by Napoleon, of the
cadastre and of the taxes, leaving on the ground floor, a large and
bright portico so that from the market square, now XX Settembre, one
could see the gulf. The neo-medieval eclectic style building, which does
not harmonize with the other houses and the structure of the square, is
known in the Lecco dialect as "Palazz di pagur" since it was the
headquarters of the Finance Office where until 1964 the inhabitants went
to pay taxes. The Chamber of Commerce was suppressed by the fascist
government and the building, which became the property of the Industrial
Union, underwent some changes. With a further restoration completed in
2012 and with the ownership passed to the municipality, it is now a
museum with a contemporary art gallery and hosts temporary exhibitions.
Since 2014 it has also housed the tourist information and reception
office of Lecco (Iat).
Villa Manzoni
in neoclassical style it
was the paternal residence of Alessandro Manzoni and is located in the
Caleotto district. Inside the Manzoni Civic Museum and the Municipal Art
Gallery. Inside the courtyard of honor surrounded by the portico where
the remains of the father of the poet Don Pietro Manzoni rest, there is
the Cappella dell'Assunta and the cellars with an icebox and two
original mid-nineteenth-century presses. The ground floor rooms still
have the original furnishings from 1818, when the writer sold the villa
to the Scola family. In the various rooms there are paintings, prints,
documents, the costumes made for the television version of the novel and
the cradle of Manzoni himself. The building is considered the symbol of
the link between Manzoni and the city of Lecco. The piece "That branch
of Lake Como, which turns southwards, between two uninterrupted chains
of mountains..." was born from the detailed visual memories of the
landscape that the writer saw from this villa.
Palazzo Falck
located in the central Piazza Garibaldi, it dates back to 1900 and was
built by Giuseppe Ongania to house the city headquarters of the Bank of
Italy, later it was named after Senator Enrico Falck. It remained closed
for years until it housed the headquarters of ConfCommercio since 2004.
Lucy's house
the presumed house of Lucia is located in Via
Caldone at number 19 in the hamlet of Olate (at the time a locality
separate from Lecco); designated by various scholars of Manzoni's
topography as the village of the Spouses, it is a typical example of
spontaneous Lecco architecture. Through a portal, decorated with a
sixteenth-century Annunciation, one passes into the rustic courtyard,
dominated by an old tower, although it cannot be visited because it is a
private residence. Popular tradition recalls another house of Lucia's,
in via Resegone in the hamlet of Acquate, where there is an old
trattoria with a courtyard from which you can see the hill of Don
Rodrigo's Palazzotto.
Dominated by these thoughts, he passed in
front of his house, which was in the middle of the village, and,
crossing it, he made his way to Lucia's, which was in the fendo, indeed
a little outside. That little house had a small courtyard in front of
it, which separated it from the road, and it was surrounded by a low
wall.
(Alessandro Manzoni, chapter II, The Betrothed, 1840)
Palazzo Bovara
located in Piazza Armando Diaz is the seat of the
municipal administration. It was built by Giuseppe Bovara between 1836
and 1852 as a civil hospital converted in 1928 with the inauguration by
King Vittorio Emanuele III, after the unification of all the former
municipalities in the Lecco district which currently make up the
districts of the city; following these works, the then Hospital Chapel
now houses the Town Council Hall. A plaque was placed in the internal
courtyard in 1958 on the occasion of the 110th anniversary of Borgo a
Città.
Villa Gomes
it is located in the Maggianico district in
the park of the same name, near the railway station. Built in 1880 by
the architect from Lecco Attilio Bolla for the Brazilian musician
Antônio Carlos Gomes (1836-1896) it follows the philosophical current of
the prevailing eclecticism with a prevailing neo-Renaissance appeal. The
building is a two-storey rectangular block with two elevations, one
oriented towards the town of Maggianico and the other, preceded by a
wide staircase, towards the lake. On the western side is the long body
formerly used as a greenhouse and today transformed into an auditorium.
The interior is enriched by a staircase whose ceiling has rich frescoes,
the only ones that survived the deterioration in which the villa was
left for many years. The Venetian floor of the hall on the ground floor
is splendid, while the attic with balusters has been eliminated which,
in addition to hiding the roof, gave impetus and a logical culmination
to the building. The villa was radically restored in 1987 to a design by
the Terragni engineers from Como who, having to convert it to meet the
needs of the Giuseppe Zelioli civic school of music located there,
distorted the original structure.
Society Theater
it is
located in Piazza G. Garibaldi and dates back to 1844 by the architect
Giuseppe Bovara. Declared unsafe in 1951, it risked being demolished
thanks to a committee of citizens who demanded its restoration which
took place in the sixties. Reopened in 1969 it was adorned ten years
later in the vault by the Ages of Life fresco by Orlando Sora.
Considered one of the most prestigious public places in the city, it
still offers seasons of prose and concerts.
Ponte Azzone Visconti
(known simply as Ponte Vecchio)
erected between 1336 and 1338, after
the conquest of the village in 1335 by Azzone Visconti, it is one of the
most important examples of military engineering of the time left in the
area. It is currently very different from the ancient bridge as it was
originally built as a fortress equipped with some towers and a pair of
drawbridges corresponding to them and made up of eight round arches. It
underwent various substantial changes over the centuries, today it is
devoid of fortifications. To satisfy the inhabitants of Como, who
thought that the narrowing of the bridge would cause the flooding of
their city, the ninth arch was added in 1354, a tenth in 1434 while
Francesco Sforza in 1440 definitively brought them to eleven. During the
siege of Lecco in 1531-32 fought by Medeghino, the structure was rather
damaged. In 1609 it was restructured on behalf of the Spanish, in the
battles of 1799-1800 the last two western arches were damaged. The
fortresses at the entrances were demolished in 1832 for road
rearrangement needs while the abutments were eliminated in 1910 in view
of the passage of the tramway line coming from Como. At the time it also
housed its own garrison, made up of about twenty men armed with
crossbows, and had its own castellan. The bridge was also a tax
collection tool; those who passed through it had to pay a toll. A fresco
from 1529 showing the bridge with these fortifications is exhibited at
the Castello di Melegnano.
Memorial to the Fallen
it is a
majestic monument that celebrates the fallen of the Great War from Lecco
to which those of the conflict in Africa were subsequently added and the
tombstones of the fallen of the Second World War on the back; it
overlooks the Gulf of Lecco directly, near the mouth of the Caldone
stream. The work of the sculptor Giannino Castiglioni, it was
inaugurated in 1926: it depicts a granite stele against which, on the
side facing the lake, a female figure is leaning, symbol of the homeland
(known by the people of Lecco as the wet nurse of pèss) with her face
afflicted by pain turned to the sky; on the opposite side the most
glorious stages of the First World War are engraved. At the foot of the
stele, placed on a stepped stone base, runs along the four sides a band
of bronze high reliefs made up of sculptures that tell of the passion of
the fighter who leaves his land, his woman and his child to fight, leap
to 'attack and fall victorious.
Monument to Alessandro Manzoni
work of the Milanese sculptor Francesco Confalonieri, this monument was
inaugurated in 1891 in the presence of Giosuè Carducci in the square of
the same name. It depicts the writer seated in his bench in a meditative
act with an absorbed gaze towards the lake. The statue, 2.80 meters
high, rests on a pink Baveno granite pedestal decorated with three
bronze high reliefs depicting the Rape of Lucia, the death of Don
Rodrigo and, at the poet's feet, the marriage of the Betrothed. The coat
of arms of Italy and Lecco surrounded by a laurel wreath are reproduced
on the back.
Monument to Mario Cermenati
it is a marble statue
sculpted by Francesco Modena which is located in the center of the old
Piazza del Grano overlooking the lake and dedicated to him in 1927;
initially in bronze it was then replaced by marble in 1945 following the
requisition of the bronze which took place in the Fascist era. On the
base that simulates a mass of rocks, surrounded by a fountain, is
engraved an epigraph of the poet Giovanni Bertacchi from Chiavenna.
Monument to Giuseppe Garibaldi
it is located in the homonymous
square, the work of Francesco Confalonieri it was erected in November
1884, only two years after Garibaldi's death to celebrate his four
visits to the city made between 1859 and 1866 also remembered by a
plaque on the building in which it was hosted located in the same
square. The monument is 8.05 meters high and was erected at the behest
of the mayor Ghislanzoni who invited the citizens to a collection of
donations. The leader of the Thousand is depicted in an upright pose
with his cap tightened in his right hand resting on his side while the
left holds the hilt of his sword, the monument rests on a white Baveno
granite pedestal on which, on the three sides, the names of the
Garibaldians of Lecco and the territory.
Monument to Antonio
Stoppani
located at the end of Punta della Maddalena, near the
landing stage, is a majestic work dedicated to the Abbot created in 1927
by the architect Mino Fiocchi while the bronze statue, framed in the
center of an exedra flanked by two fountains, is a creation of the
sculptor Michele Vedani. In 2015 the Superintendency approved the total
renovation of the monument on the occasion of Expo 2015.
Fountain
of the three mouths
located in Castione di Rancio, in the churchyard
in front of the baroque church of San Carlo, the fountain is an elegant
Saltrio stone artefact depicting three dolphins intertwined on top.
Built in 1853 for the construction of the aqueduct by the stonemason
Abbondio Molinari, it was restored in 2009 by the FAI delegation from
Lecco.
Other civil buildings
Maltese cross hotel
Feudal
Praetorian Palace
Palace of Don Rodrigo
Presumed house of the
tailor in Chiuso
Alessandro Volta Archbishop College
Villa
Belgiojoso in Castello
Hermitage Villa
Building of the Banca
Popolare di Lecco
John Fitzgerald Kennedy Bridge
Meridian Center
Monument to the Civilization of Work at Caleotto
Monument to the
fallen brothers of the sea on the lakefront
Monument to Antonio
Ghislanzoni on the lakefront
Monument to Giuseppe Airoldi inside the
Belgiojoso park
Palazzo Bigoni (residential condominium in
Pescarenico)
Palazzo Ghislanzoni (municipal seat from 1893 to 1928)
Palazzo Martelli (seat of the suppressed municipality of Maggianico)
Villa Airoldi (poorhouse from 1594 to 1926)
Villa Berera in Rancio
Villa Cima Orio in Castello
Villa Ponchielli in Maggianico
Monument to Farewell Mountains in Pescarenico
Visconti Tower
of fourteenth-century origins, it is probably the
oldest building in Lecco and is all that remains of the
triangular-shaped walls of the castle of the city demolished by Joseph
II in 1782. After the restoration of 1816, it was used as a prison and
in 1932, after a further restoration, was entrusted by the State to the
Municipality of Lecco to become the Museum of the Risorgimento and
Resistance of the city first and venue for temporary exhibitions of the
Civic Museums and then of the Culture Department of the Municipality of
Lecco. The lodgings of the guardhouse and some stone cannonballs are
still visible on the ground floor, while the second and third floors
house the Museum of the Mountains and of Lecco Mountaineering.
Wall of the Walls
it is located near the railway station and is the
only part of the Bastions of Porta Nuova that has remained intact; the
original walls with an unusual triangular shape that enclosed the
village, built during the fourteenth century following the conquest of
Lecco by Azzone Visconti, was definitively suppressed by Austrian rule
between 1782 and 1784. of a stairway awaits to be valued.
Castle
of the Unnamed
located on a cliff of a natural hill in a position
overlooking Lake Garlate, on the border with the locality of Somasca in
the municipality of Vercurago, this fortress dates back to the 14th
century. It was inspired by the novel I promessi sposi as the residence
of the powerful and wicked character of the Unnamed, a figure associated
with Francesco Bernardino Visconti. Of the fortification, now reduced to
a ruin, the quadrangular perimeter wall, part of the defensive ramparts
and some towers as well as the Chapel of Sant'Ambrogio remain intact. Of
particular interest is the original stairway that connects the castle
directly carved into the rock.
Era square
it is the beating heart of the Pescarenico district,
the only place in Lecco mentioned explicitly in The Betrothed. In the
beginning it was the evening meeting place for fishermen's families as
well as used for cleaning the nets and landing place for boats since in
the seventeenth century the village was inhabited exclusively by
families who held the right to fish in the stretch of the Adda between
the two lakes of Lecco and Garlate. The front of the square is dominated
by the monumental building of the "Bigoni" public housing designed by
the architect Mino Fiocchi in 1929. The square remains a very popular
place during the day as an obligatory transit for the cycle-pedestrian
path which from here, along a side of the lake, it reaches the Rivabella
campsite going as far as Vercurago, and in the evening by the
frequenters of the local sites in the area. Despite the redevelopment of
2008 its traditional characteristics and the literary atmosphere of the
place have been preserved.
«Farewell, mountains springing from the
waters, and raised to the sky; unequal peaks, known to those who grew up
among you, and imprinted in his mind, no less than the appearance of
those more familiar than him; torrents, whose roar he distinguishes,
like the sound of domestic voices; villas scattered and white on the
slope, like herds of grazing sheep; Goodbye!"
(Alessandro Manzoni,
The Betrothed, chapter VIII, 1840)
Piazza XX Settembre
located
in the heart of the city, it appears to be the city's living room due to
the numerous clubs that arise along the perimeter. The square, which has
a narrow, elongated and irregular shape, was, since 1149, the seat of
the city market which took place on Wednesdays and Saturdays now
transferred to the former goods yard of the Piccola. The shops line up
under the colonnades of the non-aligned porticoes, rebuilt with a
neoclassical flavor between 1820 and 1839 interspersed with various
alleys that lead into the beating heart of the city. The bourgeois
residential buildings that flank it offer balconies and windows full of
greenery and decorations; one of them - the so-called Casa Bertarelli -
still retains its pre-nineteenth-century conformation, as well as
housing a plaque commemorating where Antonio Stoppani (1824-1891),
geologist, naturalist but also patriot and man of letters was born. In
this heart of the village was the seat of the podestà's palace, of which
the Visconti coat of arms remains walled up on the house that was a
customs house, and the castle which had the border towards Switzerland
and the Republic of Venice as its stronghold, now dominated by the
medieval tower better known as Torre Viscontea. In the square, named
Piazza XX Settembre in 1895 (for a very short time, during the Fascist
period, it took the name of "Costanzo Ciano") there is also the Palazzo
delle Paure. It was totally renovated in terms of flooring and
questionable lighting in 2006 by the then Mayor of Lecco Lorenzo Bodega
together with the adjacent Piazza Mario Cermenati overlooking the gulf
and since then futuristic fountains have been installed in each of the
two squares interspersed with the numerous cafes, restaurants and
trattorias that follow each other.
Via Giuseppe Bovara
it is a
small, very characteristic road that descends from the Vallo delle Mura
towards Piazza XX Settembre. Considered one of the oldest streets in the
city, it was protected and enhanced from 1993 to 2009 thanks to an
association founded by a group of merchants and residents. In this
street, in the old residence of the Spanish governor, there is the
Umberto Pozzoli Civic Library as well as the eight curious molera stone
statues of the Ometti di Porta Nuova dating back to the 18th century
that adorn the adjacent wall. Several events that have taken place in
the past years including the Borgoantico festival, musical performances
and the tens of meters long "tart".
Via Camillo Benso, Count of
Cavour
dedicated in 1872, after the unification of Italy, to the
count of Cavour it is, together with Via Roma, the main road of the city
connecting the theater square to that of the town hall and the railway
station (among the first in Lombardy having been started in 1863). The
artery was formed in 1784 following the demolition of the fortified
triangle, subsequently involving building expansion outside the medieval
walls in an area originally characterized by meadows and vineyards.
Called at the time Contrada largo to differentiate it from the narrow
and winding alleys of the old village, it contributed to the beginning
of the connection with the Valtellina. Going up from Piazza Garibaldi,
on the left, is L'Isolago, a prestigious commercial complex since 1984
but which in the past was the headquarters of the Bellingardi spinning
mill, the latter production being widespread in the area.
Giuseppe Garibaldi Square
the square named after Giuseppe Garibaldi,
formerly Piazza del Prato or of the theatre, with the monument dedicated
to him is closed to the east by the Croce di Malta hotel and to the west
by the Teatro della Società built by Giuseppe Bovara who intervened in
the quadrilateral layout of the square also for the unbuilt new parish
church that should have been built there. Palazzo Falck and the building
which was the headquarters of the Banca Popolare di Lecco also overlook
the square.
Villa Gomes park
it is the largest in the city (about 37,000 m²)
and boasts a variety of trees of great value. the musician Antônio
Carlos Gomes gave his house the nickname of "Villa Fiori", due to the
rarity and variety of the plants he imported.
North Adda Park
it is the protected area established in 1973 which runs along the Adda
river downstream of Lake Lecco reaching the municipality of Truccazzano
in the metropolitan city of Milan. The vast area, which was formed
following the retreat of the glacier which descended from the Alps to
the plain in the Quaternary, hosts a flora and fauna of great importance
and its territory is, in part, subject to environmental protection and
protection laws. The park within the municipal boundaries is entirely
covered by the cycle path.
Monte Barro Natural Park
is a
regional park established in 1983 of about 665 hectares located close to
the western border of Lecco on the homonymous mountain in an isolated
position beyond the Adda river. The body that safeguards the territory
has given the city a smaller proportional share as most of the perimeter
belongs to other neighboring municipalities.
Visconti Island
located near the Azzone Visconti bridge stands the small Isola
Viscontea, a private property which, between March 2011 and December
2014, through an advanced project of the municipal administration and
the Appello per Lecco Association, allowed access to the public and the
tourist exploitation of the island with open-air film screenings and
theatrical performances. In February 2013, the FAI recognized the island
by classifying it in 121st place in the census I places of the heart in
addition to the decree issued only a month earlier by the director
general for cultural and landscape heritage of Lombardy who declared it
of particularly historical and cultural interest important.
«Lecco, the main one of those lands, and which gives its name to the
territory, lies not far from the bridge, on the shore of the lake,
indeed it is partly found in the lake itself, when it swells: a large
village nowadays, and which is on its way to becoming a city.”
(Alessandro Manzoni, The Betrothed, Milan, Guglielmini and Redaelli,
1840, chap. I, p. 10)
These are the places, or what remains of
them, served as inspiration for Alessandro Manzoni and mentioned in the
novel I promessi sposi, starting point for a historical-literary-tourist
itinerary among the few old parts of the city, spared from the urban
expansion linked to industrial development . Some places are historical,
such as the convent of Fra Cristoforo in Pescarenico or the Azzone
Visconti bridge, others indicated by tradition, such as the presumed
house of Lucia Mondella in the Olate district, the tabernacle of the
Bravi, the Palazzotto of Don Rodrigo, the house of the tailor in Chiuso
and the adjacent Rocca dell'Innominato. To all this is added the
aforementioned Villa Manzoni located in the Caleotto district (now the
Manzoni Civic Museum), the residence of his family where he lived his
childhood, adolescence and early youth, as he himself writes in the
introduction of the novel Fermo and Lucia.
Carnival of Lecco. during the days of the Ambrosian Carnival.
St.
Patrick's Day. In the days around March 17th. It is organized by the
Shamrock pub
PrimaVera Festa (at Rancio). early May.
European
market (On the lakefront of Lecco). For three days in May. You can learn
different things about foreign cultures as well as savor dishes and
drinks from European countries and beyond.
Nameless Music Festival
(in Barzio in Valsassina). early June. Electronic music festival, after
a few editions in Lecco it moved to nearby Barzio.
Marzolla Memorial
motorcycle meeting (starts from the Kennedy bridge). early June.
ResegUp. first Saturday of June. Mountain running race that takes place
on the first Saturday in June, starting from the lake shore, arriving at
the summit of Mount Resegone and returning to the city centre.
Lake
party. last Sunday of June.
Sharing notes (to Bonacina). end of June.
Sagra de Pescarenech (in Pescarenico). early July. Here you can enjoy a
variety of lake fish while listening to good live music. Also for dance
lovers it is possible to dance on the floor in company.
Giuseppe
Zelioli European Youth Choir Festival. July. In the month of July, four
days dedicated to the choral singing of the main youth teams.
Bellagio and Lake Como Festival. July. For classical music lovers, in
July there is a stage in Lecco for the traveling festival of Bellagio
and Lake Como
Scigamatt. in the middle of September. Mud run
competition on an urban route, an Urban Trail through the streets of
Lecco, between natural and artificial obstacles: rivers, hay bales, tire
nets and mud.
Motoguzzi meeting (in Mandello del Lario). September.
For lovers of two wheels, the Motoguzzi rally is ideal. Every year in
Mandello del Lario thousands of motorcyclists from all over the world
gather to share their passion for motorcycles and to relive the history
of the historic Motoguzzi with the museum dedicated to it.
Chocolate
Festival (in the squares of the historic centre). October.
Feast of
San Nicolò. December 6th. Patron of the city for about 1000 years;
delivery of the "Civiche Merit" and concerts at the Teatro della
Società; it is customary to give children during this day a large apple
in memory of the saint who helped three children so poor that they had
nothing to eat. Nicola, who later became Nicolò, gave an apple to each
child, everything he owned. The three poms overnight turned into golden
apples and saved the family from hunger and poverty;
Markets of
Lecco, Piazza Cermenati. On the days adjacent to the main holidays (e.g.
Easter, Christmas, etc.), there are some markets in the square where you
can find various products including: artisan food and drink, jewellery,
furniture, paintings and works of art.
These festivities deserve a separate category since they are all
characterized by a rather long duration (even 10 days), by involving the
whole neighborhood where the oratory is located and by the presence of a
kitchen area.
Fiera di Castello (Castle Oratory Festival) (in
Castello di Lecco). end of May. Organized by the parish of Castello
Palio del Beato Serafino (Feast of the oratory of Chiuso) (in Chiuso).
end of May.
Festa Popolare (Festa dell'oratorio San Luigi) (under the
bell tower of San Nicolò). end of May - beginning of June.
The
oratory is a celebration (Festa dell'oratorio dei Cappuccini) (Piazzale
dei Cappuccini). early June. Organized by the Parish of San Francesco
Feast for Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Festa di Laorca) (in Laorca). early
July.
Scigalott d'Or (Festa dell'oratorio di Acquate) (in Acquate).
end of September.
Feast of the Community of Bonacina (in Bonacina).
early September.
Feasts of the Madonna alla Rovinata. Beginning of
September. Parishes of Germanedo, Belledo and Caleotto
Feast of the
Maggianico Oratory (in Maggianico). early September.
Local festival
of the oratory of Santo Stefano, Via Turati. mid-September.
The center is full of shops of various types, from clothing to
musical instruments.
Shape store, via Giuseppe Bovara 46, ☎ +39
039 9711156, matteo@shapestore.it. 10:00-12:30 15:00-19:30. Shop
specializing in youth clothing where you can find the best brands.
Scout, Piazza Mario Cermenati, ☎ +39 0341 369173. 9.30am-7.30pm. Boys
clothing store. You can find very nice clothes, shoes, hats.
Battistini, piazza Affari 6-8, ☎ +39 0341 365688. 8am-9pm. Music shop
where you can find both instruments and musical equipment. It is very
equipped and also convenient.
Capogiro, Via Don Antonio Mascari, 18,
☎ +39 0341 369780. 09:30–13:30 15:00–19:30. Jewelery shop where you can
find objects of all kinds despite the limited space.
Carpisa, via
Roma 64, ☎ +39 0341 353791. Shop specializing in high quality suitcases
and bags at fairly affordable prices.
Tezenis, via Roma 8.
9:30-19:30. Affordable underwear shop and helpful and friendly salesmen.
H&M, via Roma 55, ☎ +39 337 145 9556, +39 06 32832464 (customer
service). 9am-8pm. Store of the famous chain of clothing, shoes,
accessories and swimwear. Here you can find high quality products at low
prices.
KIKO, via Roma 2, ☎ +39 0341 288040. Cosmetics shop where you
can find the best brands of perfumes and make-up of all kinds.
Subdued, Lungo Lago Isonzo 9, ☎ +39 0341291173. Small shop of casual
women's clothing.
Calzedonia, via Roma 65, ☎ +39 0341 288187. Store
of the famous chain specializing in footwear and underwear. edit
Lecco Taxi Boat. Boat excursions.
Piani d'Erna cableway, Via
Prealpi, 34 (Line N°5 of the public buses of SAL Linee Lecco).
By plane
The closest airports are those of Milan and Orio al
Serio. Once you get off in Milan, you can continue your journey by train
or by bus
For information on departing or arriving flights,
consult the respective websites of the Orio al Serio and Milan airports.
By car
Lecco is located on the SS36 State Road which connects
Milan to Sondrio and Valtellina. Alternatively, from Milan it is
possible to take the east ring road and continue along the provincial
road SP72.
On the train
From the Milano Centrale and Milano
Porta Garibaldi stations it is possible to take a direct train to Lecco
(sometimes Lecco is a stop on the Milano - Tirano). There are also
railway lines from Bergamo and Como that join the two main ones with
Milan (respectively in Calolziocorte and Molteno) managed by Trenord.
By bus
From Como it is possible to take the ASF C40 line which
connects in 1 hour and 10 minutes every 35 minutes, managed by
Lineelecco.
By public transport
There are numerous bus lines and above all
special ferries so as not to miss even a part of the city.
There
is also a cable car that connects Lecco with Piani d'Erna from where you
can observe the Lecco area from above.
Secondary schools
A. Badoni Higher Education Institute, via
rebellion 10, ☎ +39 0341286589. Technical institute where IT, electronic
and mechanical branches can be undertaken. Duration 5 years.
G.Parini
state higher education institute, via badoni 2, ☎ +39 0341362460.
Institute where you can undertake the tourism, finance and marketing
administration, secretarial administrative operator. Duration 5 years.
Higher education institution P.A. Fiocchi, via belfiore 4, ☎ +39
0341363310. Institute where you can undertake the following branches:
chemistry and biotechnology, graphics and communication, electrical,
electronic, automation, mechanical. Duration of each branch 5 years.
University
Lecco Polytechnic, via Gaetano Previati 1/c, ☎ +39
0341488711. University course in metallurgy and mechanics.
Shows
1 Palladium, via Fiumicella, 12, ☎ +39 0341 361533,
info@cinemapalladium.com. Cinemas and concerts.
2 Teatro Invito, via
Ugo Foscolo, 42, ☎ +39 0341 1582439, info@teatroinvito.it. Cinema and
theatre.
3 Cenacolo Francescano Theater, Piazza Cappuccini, 3,
info@cenacolofrancescano.com. Theater of the Franciscan friars,
cineforum, theaters for schools, theatrical reviews.
4 Don Ticozzi
Room, via Ongania, 4. Room managed by the Province of Lecco, this room
often hosts numerous musical events, but also debates of a political
nature and book presentations.
5 Nuovo Aquilone Cinema Teatro, via
Giuseppe Parini 16, ☎ +39 0341 1918022, info@aquilonelecco.it.
Cinema&Theater.
6 Rigamonti-Ceppi Stadium, Via Don Giovanni Pozzi, 6.
City stadium, field of the Calcio Lecco club.
Night clubs
The
Shamrock Irish Pub. it is a pub in full Irish style after which you can
taste numerous types of beers and have fun with typical Irish dances and
music played live. Not to be missed on St. Patrick's Day is the huge
party organized by the pub which is attended by many people every year.
Publichouse Gastropub, via Cesare Cantù, 16, ☎ +39 0341 287905. Mon-Thu,
Sun 12:00-00:00; Fri-Sat 12pm-2am. Pub where you can enjoy delicious
meat dishes, especially big high quality hamburgers, while sipping
excellent draft beer. During the evenings you can also listen to good
music.
Kristal Fashion Club, via Dante Alighieri, 23b (Oggiono), ☎
+39 02 84571125, +39 328 5566665. Free admission for aperitif Aperitif
with personalized buffet €10 (with drink) or €8 (with flute of sparkling
wine). Second drink €8, beer €5, shot glass €3, bottles: Berlucchi 75cl
€80 (exit n° 4), Moet 70cl €120 (exit n° 4), Belvedere 70cl €150 (exit
n° 5+1). Large venue suitable for young people where theme nights are
organized on weekends for dancing and having fun.
Mojito Cafè, Viale
Filippo Turati, 49. Bar frequented by young people
Nightclubs
Moregallo, Moregge (On the opposite bank, in the Mandello del Lario
area), ☎ +39 0341 583236, info@moregallo.it. Only in the summer months.
Renowned disco in the province of Lecco where evenings for young people
are organized daily with modern music thanks to famous Italian DJs and
more.
Orsa Maggiore, via Lungo Lario Piave, 5, ☎ +39 0341 363405,
fax: +39 0341 1972555, info@orsamaggiorediscoclub.it. Lecco is not a
classic nocturnal city but in any case there is the Ursa Maggiore which
is a historic disco, which organizes numerous evenings, including themed
ones, where fun and good music are guaranteed.
Modest prices
1 Ligurian focacceria, via Mascari, 25. The Ligurian
focacceria is the ideal place to enjoy a delicious snack, even to take
away. Here you can taste various types of delicious freshly baked pizzas
and focaccias at affordable prices. It's the perfect place for when, in
the middle of a walk, you get hungry and don't know what to eat.
2
Dersut coffee shop, Piazza XX Settembre. A place where you can not only
sip a good coffee, but also buy some. In this shop the coffee is of high
quality.
Average prices
3 Larius restaurant, via N. Sauro, 2,
☎ +39 0341 363558, info@ristorantelarius.it. Wed-Mon. The Larius
restaurant is ideal for a dinner based on typical dishes. The highlight
of the house is certainly the fish (thanks to the presence of the lake)
but pizzas and meat dishes are also excellent. The wine list is also
very rich and of high quality.
Cardamomo Restaurant, Piazza XX
Settembre, 45, ☎ +39 0341 194 4666, info@cardamomosrl.it. Excellent
restaurant that offers all the flavors and aromas of typical Persian
cuisine.
4 Punjab, Lungolario Cadorna 18, ☎ +39 0341365831,
info@shreeramji.it. Beautiful location where you can taste dishes of
typical Indian cuisine. The quality is excellent and the prices low.
5 Positano restaurant, via Malpensata, 7/A, ☎ +39 0341 282616,
positanolecco@gmail.com. closing day on Monday. Small restaurant with
fish specialities, overlooking the long lake of Lecco
6
Azzeccagarbugli, Piazza XX Settembre, 54/A, ☎ +39 0341 288063,
food@azzecca.it. Restaurant located in the square in the historic center
of Lecco, with a seafood, lake and land menu.
7 Pizzeria Bella
Napoli, Corso Martiri della Liberazione, 155, ☎ +39 0341 364100. closed
on Mondays. Simple place but with a real Neapolitan pizza.
Average prices
Hotel Lungolago, Lungolario Luigi Cadorna 20, ☎ +39
0341 1367160, info@lungolago.net. The Lungolago Lecco hotel is located
on Lake Como, which extends over the two provinces of Como and Lecco and
in the heart of the Lombardy Alps, and borders on Switzerland to the
west.
It is a 3-star hotel that was completely renovated in 2013 and
is spread over two floors of 7 rooms currently not served by a lift.
8 rooms have a terrace or balcony facing the lake while all have a
private bathroom with shower and hairdryer, air conditioning,
flat-screen TV with satellite channels and free Wi-Fi. The hotel has a
welcoming and private bar area which is also suitable for business
guests. You can also make use of the free bicycle rental service and a
Volkswagen convertible.
Hotel Alberi, Lungolario Isonzo 4, ☎ +39 0341
350992, fax: +39 0341 350892, info@hotelalberi.it.
NH Pontevecchio
Hotel, via A.Visconti, ☎ +39 0341 238000, nhpontevecchio@nh-hotels.com.
Check-in: 3.00pm, check-out: 12.00pm. One of the best hotels in Lecco.
Those who stay there can have numerous comforts and excellent service
from the hotel staff.
Hotel Griso, strada provinciale,51, ☎ +39 0341
239811, fax: +39 0341 2398410. Splendid hotel belonging to the Clario
Collection brand and featuring a direct view of the lake. In the hotel
restaurant you can savor the true flavors of traditional Lombard
cuisine. It also has rooms that can be rented for certain events such as
weddings.
Hotel Don Abbondio, piazza Era,10, ☎ +39 0341 366315, fax:
+39 0341 362563, info@donabbondio.com. Small hotel located in an
historic eighteenth-century square. Those who stay there have numerous
services and a family atmosphere. However, you can only do bed and
breakfast.
Firefighters, Via Amendola 4, ☎ +39 0341 287371.
Police, Via
Salvatore Sassi 18, ☎ +39 0341 481346.
Carabinieri, Liberation
Martyrs Course, ☎ +39 0341 284039.
Post
Post office, Via Belvedere 24, ☎ +39 0341 365726, fax: +39
0341 283291. Mon-Fri 8:30-14.00, Sat 8:30-12:30.
Internet
The
city of Lecco offers a free wi-fi network in the following areas:
Piazza Lega Lombarda (railway station square), Piazza Garibaldi,
Piazza Cermenati, Piazza XX Settembre, Piazza A. Manzoni
Via Cavour,
via C. Cattaneo, via Roma and neighboring areas
Lakefront from Largo
Europa to the Imbarcadero.
The maximum period of use is 4 hours.
Plans of Bobbio
Valsassina - In Valsassina there are many
localities such as Barzio, which are in the mountains. In fact, from
Barzio you can reach Piani di Bobbio.
Villas on Lake Como
Lecco is part of the Strada del Vino e dei
Sapori della Valtellina, a route for the promotion of food and wine
tourism, about 200 kilometers long and recognized by the Lombardy
Region, which winds through the Sondrio Valtellina over an area of 78
municipalities, touching among these: Montespluga, Madesimo , Chiavenna,
Colico, Sondrio, Morbegno, Ardenno, Postalesio, Chiesa in Valmalenco,
Teglio, Aprica, Tirano, Grosio, Bormio and Livigno.
Romanesque
itinerary in the territory of Lecco
San Pietro al monte: can be
reached on foot from Civate in about an hour's walk along various
mountain paths (suitable comfortable clothes and shoes are therefore
recommended). Suggestive are the path that starts from the hamlet of
Pozzo where you can admire wide views of the village and the lake or the
suggestive path of the ravine of the Val dell' Oro. Both converge on the
mule track that starts from the Oro hamlet (trail sign n.10). At the end
of the walk there is an ancient abbey and a refreshment point.
Furthermore, by prolonging the walk, you can reach the SEC refuge at the
top of Mount Cornizzolo.
Itinerary of Manzoni's places based on the
novel of the betrothed.
Sentiero di Leonardo passes through Lecco the
path of the places where Leonardo da Vinci left his mark.
The places
of Leonardo da Vinci in Lombardy
Itinerary of places in history where
the most important events took place in the last two world wars around
Lake Como.
Piani d'Erna itinerary: a very suggestive place that can
be reached on foot or by cable car. At an altitude of 786 m there is a
chapel dedicated to the Madonna. At 890 m there is the Stoppani refuge
where you can enjoy a tasty lunch based on typical Lombard dishes. Piano
del fieno is located at 1,197m, Bocca d'Erna at 1,291m and Morterone at
1,747m.
Via del ferro: the historical traces of what was the main
economic source of Lecco.
Monte Barro itineraries:
The
complete tour of the mountain: it allows the vision of splendid
panoramas and different types of vegetation. At the Hermitage stands the
late Gothic Church of S. Maria from the former convent of S. Francesco
and some centuries-old beech trees. There is also a bar and a
restaurant.
On the summit of the Barro: this is the itinerary that
allows you to reach the summit of the mountain through woods, meadows
and rocks. The area of the summit crests encloses an extraordinary
variety of flora settled on limestone cliffs, prairies and dry meadows;
a reserve of great biodiversity which at European level has led to the
inclusion of Monte Barro among the Sites of Community Importance (SIC).
The quickest way is to come from the Hermitage.
Between nature and
archeology: it crosses several woods and you can see the remains of
Gothic settlements dating back to the 5th century (Barra settlement) and
a small ancient church.
Discovering Val Faée: a fairly demanding
itinerary that leads into the heart of Val Faée, one of the most natural
environments on Monte Barro.
Pian Sciresa and San Michele: itinerary
that offers easy walks and leads to Pian Sciresa, an expanse of meadows
suitable for playing, having fun and sunbathing. Furthermore, following
this itinerary you can reach San Michele, a small town surrounded by
cypress woods, where there is a partially built church used in the
summer season for concerts and cultural initiatives. You can go up on
foot from the center of Lecco by crossing the old bridge and taking the
ascent of via San Michele.
cycle path Garlate and Olginate lakes
cycle path: tour from Lecco, Pescate, Garlate, Olginate, Calolziocorte,
Vercurago.
cycle path Ciclovia dei laghi: the shortened route of the
entire itinerary takes in the stages of Lecco, Civate (Lake Annone),
Bosisio Parini (Lake Pusiano).
The origin of the toponym Lecco is not certain but it is probably of
Celtic origin which is connected to Lech or Loch and that is lake, as
still today in numerous dialects and toponyms of this derivation
(Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Galicia). In fact, shortly before
the year 1000 BC. some populations of Gauls and Celts emigrated to the
Lecco area for trade reasons. Leucos was the name given by the Gauls who
inhabited these areas until Roman times, who transformed the
denomination into Leucum around 200 BC. under the rule of Julius Caesar.
This tends to exclude the hypothesis put forward by historians who have
identified Lecco as the Roman city founded in 95 BC. by Licinio Crassus
in the Larian area with the name of Leucera.
Other theories, perhaps
legendary, trace the etymology from the Greek leukos (white), probably
due to the beautiful white limestone rocks; from the Latin lucus
(forest) and/or lacus (lake). Other inferences lead to a derivation from
the ancient Indian lokas (country) or from the Lithuanian laukas (open
field). However, the existence of the city was documented for the first
time in 845, with the appearance of a document named Leuco.
Excavations in 1988 by the Civic Museums of Lecco led to the discovery of a village of the Golasecca Culture (early Iron Age) at the Rocca di Chiuso. The chronological horizon goes from the 10th century BC. to the 4th century AD In fact, the settlement of the Golasecca Celts in the area precedes the arrival of the La Tène Celts from beyond the Alps by over 4 centuries and numerous archaeological finds testify to the presence of the Golasecca and La Tène culture in the area (Olate di Lecco, Valsassina). In 2005 at Piani d'Erna other excavations by the Civic Museums of Lecco and the University of Bergamo brought to light the oldest metallurgical production site in the entire Alpine arc (2nd century BC - 1st century AD). The remains of smelting furnaces and processing slag prove that this activity, which would later be traditional for Lecco for two thousand years, was then already flourishing. Also the main military artery coming from Aquileia, through Bergamo, directed to Como, did not pass through Lecco but further south, on the Roman bridge of Olginate. The castrum of the hill of Santo Stefano, identified by Bognetti, and on which the father of Alessandro Manzoni, Pietro, conducted the first archaeological excavations, dates back to the Late Antiquity-High Medieval period and was part of the mighty fortifications of the limes, placed in defense of Mediolanum, which they surrounded the entire Eastern Lario from Monte Barro to Lavello. The via Spluga, a Roman road that connected Milan with the Spluga pass, also passed through Lecco.
During the early Middle Ages, the area around Lecco acquired
considerable military importance. Nodal point of various routes that
connected present-day Lombardy with the territories beyond the Alps, the
region became the scene of clashes and decisive battles, as demonstrated
by the sudden disappearance of the important Goth fortification on Monte
Barro, where the excavations archaeological excavations have brought to
light the remains of a 6th century castle, of which an inhabited area at
Piani di Barra and a defensive system between the Hermitage and the
south-eastern slope of the mountain have been recognized. The fortified
system of Lecco (Castrum Leuci) becomes the seat, with the Carolingians,
of an important Committee entrusted to the Attonidi family. In 960 the
last of these counts was deprived of power by Emperor Otto I and Lecco
was subjected to the lordship of the Archbishop of Milan. The
archiepiscopal lordship over all the eastern lands of the lake will last
for many centuries.
Throughout the Middle Ages and to a large
extent during the Modern Age, the name of Lecco does not indicate a
particular inhabited centre, but includes the whole area between the
lake and Valsassina. Lecco was a polycentric town, in which the various
districts were closely interdependent, each with a functional and
economic specialization. At that time in Lombardy the civitas (city)
defined only the centers of dioceses while the borgus (villages) were
made up of para-urban realities of a certain importance but not a
bishopric as happened for Monza and Varese, all united under the
Archdiocese of Milan. The emergence of the term burgus thus coincides
with a profound change in the urban socio-economic structure, following
the affirmation of the municipal regime and the development of an
economic activity on a pre-industrial scale.
In 1117 a long war broke out, which lasted 10 years, which pitted
many towns on the lakes of Como and Lugano against Milan, of which Lecco
was an ally. The people of Lecco took part in the battle and in March
1125, with a fleet they besieged Como by lake, while the Milanese
blocked it by land. Como had to capitulate and the victors set it on
fire. However, relations with Milan always remained tense and, due to a
situation resulting from political and economic reasons for the
disparity in taxation, arms were reached. After alternating
vicissitudes, peace was reached in 1219 and, in 1224, the recognition of
some rights of the inhabitants of Lecco was obtained.
In an
attempt to free themselves from the Milanese dominion, during the
confrontation between Milan and the emperor Federico II-nephew of
Barbarossa-Lecco supported the latter, but on his death the Milanese
attacked the castle which stood on the hill of S. Stefano and in the
1250 razed it to the ground. Subsequently Lecco was involved in the
struggles between the powerful Milanese families of the Visconti and the
Torriani, the latter owners of the Valsassina territories. The struggles
led Matteo I Visconti to destroy the village giving orders that it would
never rise again (1296). Despite the destruction, however, Lecco was
rebuilt and subsequently reconquered by Azzone Visconti. He had the
still existing bridge built which takes its name from him and,
considering the strategic importance of the area on the border with the
territory of Venice, he fortified the village. Throughout the period,
the General Community of Lecco, which included all of the current
municipal territory, set itself up as a free municipality with its own
statutes and, until 1757, was de facto a small autonomous state (with
its own civil and criminal law), but inserted in the greater Duchy of
Milan.
«At the time when the events we are about to tell happened, that
village, already considerable, was also a castle, and therefore had the
honor of housing a commander, and the advantage of possessing a stable
garrison of Spanish soldiers, who taught the modesty of the girls and
women of the country, from time to time they stroked the back of some
husband, some father; and, at the end of the summer, they never failed
to spread themselves out in the vineyards, to thin out the grapes, and
lighten the labors of the harvest for the peasants.
(Alessandro
Manzoni, The Betrothed, chapter I, 1840)
With the fall of the
Duchy of Milan, Lecco passed to Spain and, under Charles V, was
transformed into a military stronghold. In this troubled period is the
figure of Gian Giacomo Medici, known as the Medeghino, lord of Musso, a
mercenary captain who dominated the Lombard scene first with piratical
actions and, subsequently, with a casual and Machiavellian political
conduct. Gian Giacomo Medici obtained the dominion of Lecco, Valsassina
and part of Brianza; dominion that he lost when, momentarily, these
territories returned under Francesco Sforza duke of Milan. The Medeghino
then passed under the orders of Charles V, gaining honor as leader of
the imperial army. In fact, in this period power remained in the hands
of the Milanese Patriciate, according to the traditional Spanish policy
which maintained the autonomy of the various countries dependent on the
Spanish Crown. The iron and steel business continued to flourish, also
due to the action of numerous merchant-entrepreneurs from Lecco, the
main one being Giacomo Maria Manzoni, the novelist's
great-great-grandfather. In this period, as in all of Milan, people
suffered from plagues and famines, which Manzoni admirably described in
The Betrothed. In 1714 Lombardy passed to the Austrian Habsburgs and
Maria Teresa placed Lecco at the head of the parishes of Bellano,
Mandello, Varenna, Vedeseta and Valsassina.
«...a large village nowadays, and which is on its way to becoming a
city..."
(Alessandro Manzoni, The Betrothed, chapter I, 1840)
In 1784 Joseph II of Habsburg-Lorraine visited the city and decided on
the definitive suppression of the city walls. With the descent of
Napoleon and the birth of the Cisalpine Republic in 1797, the Lecco
Riviera became part of the ephemeral mountain department (of which Lecco
is the capital). In 1799 a unit of Suvorov's Austro-Russian army under
the command of Prince Pëtr Ivanovich Bagration clashed with the French
in Lecco and defeated them. The battle opens the doors of Milan to the
Austro-Russians, which falls into their possession. The following year,
with the return of Napoleon, there was the Second Battle of Lecco which
was won, this time, by the French. The city was incorporated first in
the Department of Lario with capital in Como, and then in that of Serio
with capital in Bergamo. In 1814, after the definitive defeat of
Napoleon, the Austrian army regained possession of the region,
suppressed every French institution, permanently brought Lecco back into
the territory of the province of Como in 1816 (from which it became
independent only in 1995) and definitively subdivided the city in many
small Municipalities which will be re-united in 1923, during the Fascist
period.
The period of the Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom had positive
effects on the history of Lecco: in these years there were numerous
interventions for the modernization and development of the territory,
such as the introduction of an efficient bureaucracy, the increase in
the cadastre, already introduced by Joseph II, and industrial
development which led to widespread prosperity; the silk industry,
traditional in the area, was mechanized with the use of steam and the
traditional iron working grew impetuously, giving rise to large
mechanical industries such as Badoni which will dominate the Italian
market throughout the 20th century. In the 1830s, a recruiting center
for Swiss citizens wishing to join the papal guards was active in the
city.
The first half of the 19th century led Lecco to be one of the beating
hearts of Italian culture: the Scapigliati, a famous group of Milanese
men of letters made Maggianico one of their favorite meeting places. The
cultural ferment of the period was also associated with political
ferment, and Lecco and its inhabitants played a very important role in
the Lombard Risorgimento.
At the news of the Milanese insurrection
against Austria – March 1848 – it was a priest, Don Antonio Mascari, who
incited the rebellion from the pulpit. Soon money and volunteers were
raised. In the night between 18 and 19 March the citizens besieged the
Commissariat and forced the commander to surrender his arms but the
revolt was not successful. With the decree of 22 June 1848, the
provisional government of Lombardy (the Austrian one had lapsed
following the Five Days of Milan) promoted Lecco to the rank of city
thanks to the contribution that the city was making to the Risorgimento
cause: many Lecco residents were sent to the Stelvio Pass to prevent the
descent into Lombardy of the Austrians. However, on their return, Lecco
in 1859 was again downgraded to Borgo.
In 1859, with the Second War
of Independence, Lecco and Lombardy were conquered by the Kingdom of
Sardinia, the first section of the Kingdom of Italy and, in the same
year, it regained the title of City, which had been conferred on it in
1848 and canceled by the Austrians. The first mayor was the notary
Francesco Cornelio.
In 1837, the first experiment in public lighting
with eight oil lamps took place in Lecco. The actual lighting came into
operation only eight years later. In 1885 the body of the Urban Police
was born while in 1923 the municipal territory, now insufficient to
contain the urban expansion, was considerably expanded with the
aggregation of the neighboring municipalities of Acquate, Castello sopra
Lecco, Germanedo, Laorca, Rancio di Lecco and San Giovanni alla
Castagna, as well as part of the municipal territory of Maggianico; in
1928 the remaining part of Maggianico was also aggregated, while
Malgrate and Pescate, whose aggregation was foreseen, maintain their
autonomy. The city later developed hand in hand with the country, it was
the center of bitter union struggles for the improvement of conditions
in the textile factories and had to pay an enormous tribute in blood
during the two world wars, there were many who died remembered in the
numerous monuments present in the city.
Coat of arms
«Red cross on a white field and rampant lion on a
blue-lake background, to the right and left, two tritons, nine-ball
jeweled crown.»
(Non-heraldic description of the coat of arms of the
city of Lecco)
The coat of arms of the city of Lecco can be
emblazoned as follows: "Scudo ancile, party: in the first, silver, with
a red cross; in the second, azure, with a gold lion, langued red,
turned, the head placed in majesty. Comital crown. The shield leaning
against a golden pouch, supported by two leaning bearded tritons, all in
gold."
The coat of arms of the city of Lecco has undergone many
changes with the succession of historical events that have affected the
city.
After the oldest representation dating back to the seventeenth
century, the coat of arms of the Statuta Civilia Comminitatis Leuci
(1691) was handed down, which underwent more or less elaborate
variations and, to date, depicts a shield departed with the Cross of
Saint George on the left which represents a symbol of Guelph origin,
which appears in the coats of arms of the free anti-imperial
Municipalities of Northern Italy, and a rampant golden lion in a blue
field on the right.
The red cross on a silver field, also adopted in
the Coat of Arms of Milan, assumes that its use was employed when Lecco
was permanently part of the Milanese countryside at the end of the 14th
century, while the lion (originally an unleonited leopard) represents
the symbol of the Municipality part of the Popolo, recalling the
political position of the city in the Middle Ages dominated by the Lords
of Milan and partisan of the Torriani. The shield is supported on the
sides by the lieutenants represented by two tritons (gods of Greek
mythology with a double nature: half man and half fish), a very rare
figure in heraldry in memory of the origins of people who lived in a
fishing village. The coat of arms is not surmounted by the typical
turreted crown of the city but, like Turin and other cities where
ancient counties were located, the count's crown since, from a heraldic
point of view, Lecco was a county since Carolingian rule (8th century),
when it was the seat of one of the oldest and most powerful dynasties of
the Regnum Italicorum, the Attonidi of Lecco. This wording was
maintained even after the death of the last count, also appearing in the
text of the Peace of Constance (1183) and in the Milanese public deeds
of the following centuries. The count's crown is made up of 16 points
supporting as many pearls, of which only 9 are visible in the coat of
arms
The municipal territory covers an area of
approximately 45.93 km², of which 11.75 km² correspond to the
extension of the urbanized portion which develops mainly on alluvial
fan deposits and in the valley floor of torrential incisions. It
rises in a basin bounded by the Prealps to the east and by Lake
Lario, in its terminal stretch of the eastern branch to the west, at
the point where the Lario ends and the Adda resumes its course and
then widens again into Lake Garlate. The city area is crossed by
three main streams, the Gerenzone, the Caldone and the Bione. The
mountains that surround the natural basin where the town lies are:
to the north Mount Coltignone and San Martino, to the east Mount Due
Mani, Pizzo d'Erna and Resegone, to the south the Magnodeno. To the
west, on the right bank of the Adda is Monte Barro. On the Adda near
the Azzone Visconti bridge is the small Visconti Island.
The
municipal territory has a very variable altimetric distribution; in
fact it varies from 198 meters above sea level in the lake area up
to the maximum altitude of 1875 meters above sea level of Mount
Resegone and this offers the city three areas differently
characterized both at the morphological and climatic level due
precisely to the mountainous area, to the lake and to the third
connecting the mountainous and lake areas.
Morphologically,
the Lecco area is the result of the numerous glaciations that have
struck the planet, a circumstance clearly evident in the appearance
of the surrounding mountains, one above all the Grigna, which show
all the characteristics of the glacial excavation.
The hydrography of Lecco consists mainly of the
stretch of the Adda river leaving the eastern branch of Lake Como.
There also flow a series of streams, with their tributaries, which
originate in the mountainous belt overlooking the city. They are
affected by widespread landslides and therefore subject to
particular erosion of the course; they have a relatively short
itinerary and, with a flow mainly from north-east to south-west, all
flow into the Gulf of Lecco or into Lake Garlate.
The Val Cascee
stream winds from north to south; the Gerenzone torrent, which flows
for just over 4 km, giving life for many years, thanks to its
spillways and its steep course, to the inhabitants of the place who
channeled water into stretches of canals and waterfalls useful for
washing and drafting of the wheels of the mallets, which, gradually
covered the entire course of the stream, raising metalliferous
factories on its banks and at the same time developing the upper
districts of Lecco including Malavedo and Laorca, in the past the
true homeland of iron workers, those ferascét or tirabagia which are
the fame of the city; in its short path it receives the Valle
Calolden, Val di Streciura, Val Pozza and Valle Spesseda streams;
the Val Nera stream. Further south flows the Caldone stream which
develops for about 7.5 km. It has four tributaries: the Varigione,
the Full Valley, the Boazzo Valley and the Grigna, all tributaries
into Lake Lecco. From 1965 it was almost entirely covered to create
a ring road. On the other hand, the Bione flows into the Garlate
lake which, with its tributary Valle Comera, runs for 4 km; the Tuf
stream; the Cif stream with its tributary Valle Ibraula; the Valle
di Culigo stream, the Merla and the Roggia Fornace Lansera. The
Valle Galaveso stream flows for a certain stretch in the
south-eastern section.
The basin in which Lecco lies is circumscribed, to the north, east and south-east, by a mountain range of considerable height, limestone and dolomite, dominated by the Resegone and the Grigne group while to the west it is bounded by the hilly reliefs of northern Brianza -east that culminate in Mount Barro. Lecco is more properly defined as follows: to the north rises the massif of Monte Coltignone, mainly of limestone and Esino dolomite, directly overlooking the lower peaks, such as Monte San Martino, Monte Melma and Monte Albano. To the east, the Resegone group, which, with its 1875 meters above sea level, dominates the city, characterizing the Lombard landscape since Milan. It is so called because of its many rocky teeth which, seen from the town, make it look like a gigantic saw; Mount Serada, which dominates imposingly with its offshoots, which are the Piani d'Erna and Pian Serada. To the south-east, beyond Maggianico, the greatest elevation is represented by the Magnodeno. To the west rise the extreme hills of north-eastern Brianza, among which Mount Barro stands out in which the homonymous regional park has been established to protect the flora and fauna it preserves.
From the seismic point of view, the city of Lecco presents a very low risk and is evenly distributed over the territory. The municipality was in fact classified as zone 3 (medium-low seismicity) by the national civil protection. The epicentral locations for the events that produced the greatest resentments / damages (macroseismic observations) come from areas belonging to the neighboring provinces, corresponding to Bresciano, Bergamasco and, above all, to the Emilia-Romagna Apennines. The National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, however, recorded in the Italian macroseismic database of 2004 a series of rather sporadic events in the area over a period of about 110 years from 1884 to 1995. Specifically, 17 telluric events stand out among which the earthquake of April 24, 1918 of magnitude 5.07 which had the lower Brembana valley as its epicenter. Three other episodes instead had the Lecco area as their epicenter and are reported in the literature; they date back to 1887 (told in the book by Giuseppe Mercalli: The Lecco earthquake of 20 May 1887), to 5 March 1894 (told in the book by Mario Baratta: The Lecco earthquake of 5 March 1894) and to 1695 (always told by Mario Baratta in 1901 in his essay on seismic history and geography: The earthquakes of Italy).
The territory of Lecco is well sheltered by the mountain ranges, and from a climatic point of view, it enjoys the beneficial influences of the lake waters and the breath of the Tivano which blows from the Valtellina from the north-east all year round in the early hours of the morning, from 6 to 10. Its total absence indicates the approach of bad weather. The Breva is another well-known wind that blows from the south in the early afternoon hours, generally between 10 and 18. In the past, these two winds were exploited for fishing and navigation: the boatmen descended towards the south in the early hours of the morning and they went up the waters of the Lario in the afternoon. Overall, the city enjoys a continental climate, usually accompanied by a high humidity rate, mitigated precisely by its winds, presenting not particularly harsh winters and rather pleasant summers, it being understood that in the municipal area there are significant thermal differences in the minimum values between neighborhoods, both for the altitude and for exposure or otherwise to the lake breezes. From the valleys that flow onto the lake, the various mountains suddenly blow, breezes that pleasantly mitigate the heat on summer days but, during storms, they can also be very violent and strong. Another little-known but very violent wind with gusts of around 40/60 km/h is the Ventone which blows suddenly from Valchiavenna usually in spring. The fog that characterizes the nearby Po valley is almost non-existent in the city, already partly present beyond the hills of Brianza on some occasions. Snow is quite frequent, albeit discontinuous depending on the winter, with average annual snowfall values which differ greatly as you proceed towards the localities located on the hills such as Bonacina, Malavedo and Laorca. The rainfall is quite high with an annual average of about 1500 mm and has a significant exposure to thunderstorm phenomena. The last big snowfalls date back to 14 December 2012, 17 December 2010, 21-22 December 2009, 2 February and 6-7 January 2009, 26, 27 and 28 January 2006 and 18 January 2005; the snowfall that affected a large part of the region between the end of January and the beginning of February 2012 was quite significant, not because of the quantity but because of the snowpack that remained on the ground for a long time due to the very low temperatures recorded (with minimum values up to -15 °C in Brianza and Valsassina and maximum values below zero even in the center for about a week). The mild climate and the good exposure to the sun favored agriculture in the past, in fact oil and wine were produced here and figs, walnuts, hazelnuts and chestnuts were much appreciated.