An ancient village, Ambria, whose citizens have disappeared leaving clear traces of an ancient history: the once permanently inhabited jewel of the valley is now an awe-inspiring hamlet.

Ambria to visit with bated breath and widened eyes, an ancient nucleus built around the Church of St. Gregory erected in the 17th century, formerly an important foothold for wayfarers and merchants shuttling between Valtellina and Bergamo.

Val Venina is the valley of iron and hydroelectric power, economic vocations that are clearly visible, and constitute the historical and cultural value of the area: many iron mines were active between 1300 and the mid-19th century. One trace can still be enjoyed, the ancient furnace for the first smelting of siderite. While among the hydroelectric power plants, that of Vedello is the most impressive, as is the large Venina dam.

From the Vedello power plant, following the path corresponding to the signposts number 254, you can access the ancient nucleus of Ambria located at the confluence of the Zappello and Venina streams (transit by car is possible only with a permit issued by the Municipality of Piateda; alternatively, leave the car just beyond the Vedello power plant and walk along the dirt road to the village, an hour's walk).

Having visited the small village, in the past very famous for the presence at high altitude of important iron mines, you face the ascent on the path of the so-called Scale di Venina, an easy winding path carved into the rock that leads to the wall of Lake Venina.

At the bottom of the dam you can seeAlpe Venina, still loaded with a hundred cows by the Marchesini brothers. In a little more than an hour's walk, at the junction with the GVO (Grande Via delle Orobie), you reach the remains of an ancient roasting oven: the ore extraction veins are still visible nearby. These were among the most important in the chain. At this point you undertake the return to Ambria following the same route as the outward journey.