The Via Priula is a path of high historical value, retracing the route of the ancient trade road built in 1593. It was started by the Venetian podestà of Bergamo Alvise Priuli to connect the Po Valley with the Valtellina, Valchiavenna and the transalpine, without passing through the Duchy of Milan, then under Spanish rule with its attendant impositions of transit duties. The road was traveled by intense traffic, especially after Venice had entered into a treaty of alliance with the Three Leagues in September 1603. On the basis of this treaty, the Serenissima granted, in fact, exemption from duties both to goods produced in Italy and exported through the San Marco Pass, and to those from Valtellina and Graubünden exported to Venice. This path was therefore traveled by merchants, couriers, mercenary soldiers and cargoes of goods: wools, irons, salt, grapes, cheese and the saltpeter. The rather wide road was passable along some sections by two-wheeled wagons and in the section of the San Marco Pass allowed passage with fully loaded pack animals. Today, from the upper Brembana Valley in the Orobic Alps one reaches Chiavenna through the Bitto Valley of Albaredo, lower Valtellina, and the Chiavenna Plain. From Chiavenna the path connects to the great transalpine trails of the Via Septimer and Via Spluga. One approaches an area rich in monuments, cultures, gastronomic specialties, inns and hotels. The route, especially in the mountainous part, runs along the ancient mule track. In the valley bottoms, country roads, bicycle and pedestrian paths and other trails were favored. It covers about 80 km in 4 days of travel, touching, at the San Marco Pass, the maximum altitude of 1982 meters. - Ph Ig: @vale2389

In the smallest town of Italy, a small architectural and food&wine treasure

Borgoratto Mormorolo, a hilly municipality in the Valle Coppa of Oltrepò Pavese, reflects in its name two ancient and distinct settlement realities: the village, located in the current area of the municipality, and Mormorola, a name that from the 13th century refers to the pieve, the successor of the much older agricultural estate of Memoriola in Bobbio. The ancient pieve, corresponding to the current parish church of Saints Cornelius and Cyprian, stands isolated above the village, along the road that leads to the hamlet of Inveriaghi and then to Costa Cavalieri and Valverde, in the municipal territory of Fortunago. Regarding the origin of the toponym, Borgoratto could refer to its steep terrain (ratto = steep) or, more likely, derive from burgulus, which would refer to small settlements or villages. Currently, the municipality of Borgoratto Mormorolo includes the hamlets of Inveriaghi, Femminico, Zebedo, Braglia, Ca’ Bernocchi, Ca’ Facchini, Gabbione, Boiolo, and Illibardi, inhabited places whose origins date back at least in part to the late antiquity and early medieval periods. SIGHTS Church of Saints Cornelius and Cyprian The Parish Church of Borgoratto Mormorolo corresponds to the medieval pieve of Mormorola, on which the agricultural estate of the Lombard monastery of San Colombano in Bobbio was developed. Over the centuries, the building has undergone reconstructions and expansions that have altered its original features, although it still retains some elements that indicate its Romanesque origin. Completely restored in the 20th century, it features a portal rebuilt in Romanesque style and has preserved the capitals that belonged to the 12th-century construction. On the side of the bell tower facing north, there is a small white marble head from a Roman statue. The church has a single nave, and inside, visitors can admire frescoes from 1920 by the painter Rodolfo Gambini of Alessandria. A 17th-century wooden statue is preserved there, and on the southern wall of the modern parish, some small fragments of the ancient Romanesque church can be seen embedded in the wall. IN THE SURROUNDINGS…Not far from Borgoratto, on the heights of the Strana Valley, a portion of a region covered with junipers called Costa Pelata, a naturalistic trail rich in butterflies can be explored.

Visit the WWF nature reserve of Valpredina.

Two days MTB biking in the Orobie Alps and one night sleeping in Rifugio

Aprica, happy holidays in the mountains in winter and summer.

Cremona is the ideal destination for your school trip

Where the uses and costumes of the mountain people are handed down and the Valtellina art is preserved

Museum of the Via Spluga and the San Giacomo Valley in Campodolcino, Spluga Valley

Trekking in the province of Pavia

Madesimo, Chiavenna and Morbegno. A weekend in Valtellina

Scenic route, between Livigno and Bormio, to be done in fine weather