THE PATH

FROM THE CENTER OF VARENNA TO THE CASTLE

From the center of Varenna go beyond Piazza San Giorgio until you arrive in front of the splendid Villa Monastero, famous for its beautiful garden full of flowers and succulents. Take via Roma, the one-lane asphalted road that leads to the cemetery. During the climb, where you can enjoy stunning views of the surrounding landscape, you will find indications for the “Scabium” scenic route, which starts from the parking lot of the former Hotel Eremo Gaudio near the lift (hiking shoes recommended). It is an ancient itinerary that connects Varenna to Vezio di Perledo lasting about 30 minutes, and which is part of the best known Wayfarer’s Path. Difference in altitude of about 160 meters.

This path leads to the square in the village of Vezio which overlooks the Church of S. Antonio Abate di Perledo. Walking you will find a path that leads to the cemetery and climbs the hill to the Castello di Vezio, which can be accessed through the gate.

THE RETURN

Once the visit to the Castle is over, you can return to the village along an alternative route to the outward route, usually used for the climb, but steeper and less panoramic. In less than 30 minutes you will reach Varenna again by walking on a shaded cobblestone mule track next to the Hotel Montecodeno (Olivedo area), a convenient point for reaching the pier or the station. Near the landing stage, you will find a small playground with a swing, slide and benches overlooking the lake. From there take the Lovers Lane of Varenna: a walkway anchored to the rock, cantilevered on the lake, with the photographed red railing. Continue to the center of Varenna, where you will return to Piazza San Giorgio with its beautiful churches – Church of San Giorgio, Church of San Giovanni Battista and Church of Santa Madonna delle Grazie.

Important notes:

• We always recommend walking shoes, not sandals or flip flops.
• It is not possible to walk along the paths with the stroller.

THE CHURCH

OF BLACK MADONNA WITH WHITE-SKINNED CHILD

Originally the church was blessed on 8 September 1685. The current church was designed by the architect Meschi di Lecco and is built on three naves. It was inaugurated on March 24, 1968. The church preserves the statue of the black Madonna dating back to the 1600s and reproduces the Madonna of Loreto. This statue perhaps represents the only case of a black Madonna with a white-skinned Child in her arms.

ONE ITINERARY, THREE PATHS

A WALK IN CONTACT WITH NATURE AND THE TERRITORY

The “Sentiero del Viandante” is an interesting route dating back to the Roman period, which runs along the eastern coast of Lake Como, from Abbadia Lariana to Piantedo, for 45 km.

Fitted out in 1989, this walking path offers those who walk along it the chance of enjoying some peaceful hours deep in stillness and in an environment all one with the sky and the lake.

The path, once connecting Milan and the Switzerland, starts in Abbadia Lariana (LC) at the small Church of St. Martin and ends at the Sanctuary of the Madonna of Val Pozzo in the district of Piantedo (SO).

We recommend for the excursion to wear trekking shoes and comfortable clothing

Here are 3 hiking trails having Varenna as their starting point:

Don’t forget that mostly of the towns on this side of the lake are connected by the railway, running from Milan to Tirano (timetable: Tirano-Sondrio-Lecco-Milano ), a very useful option on the way back, if you are tired!
If you’re coming from others towns on the lake, you can cross by ferry or boat service, getting off in Varenna.

FAUNA AND LAKE ENVIRONMENT

A RICH AND VARIEGATED COLLECTION TO DISCOVER THE TERRITORY

The Scanagatta Ornithological Museum in Varenna is home to a collection of high scientific and cultural value: made up of over 800 specimens of birds and mammals and enriched by a valuable terrestrial and freshwater malacological collection, it represents an important testimony of the fauna the area hosted since the 1950s.

The Museum was born as a private collection of the local teacher Luigi Scanagatta, a passionate ornithologist, malacologist, and botanist. It was opened to the public in 1962, thanks to an agreement with the Pro Loco and its president Ugo Maloberti and in 1981 it became a Civic Museum.

Through continuous additions to the collection and updates of the exhibition itinerary, the Museum has been able to renew itself and remain modern, also thanks to collaborations with the Università del Piemonte Orientale and with CROS Varenna, a local ornithological association.

Download brochure: Museo Civico di ornitologia e scienze naturali L. Scanagatta

The exhibition itinerary

The Museum develops on two levels.

On the lower floor, there are the main habitats that can be found around Varenna and the birds that occur there. As in a walk, you start from the plain, between lakes, rivers, and cities, and climb the side of a mountain, up to the highest peaks. A large showcase shows the most fascinating predators that inhabit the area.

On the upper floor are shown several aspects of the biology and the ecology of birds, such as the diet, the plumage, or the migrations. The itinerary ends with the malacological collection, a rarity of its kind. The showcases are accompanied by exhaustive texts in Italian and English, which allow visitors from all Countries to walk through the Museum on their own.

Visit the Museum!

Alone or in a group, with a guide or on your own, a visit to the Scanagatta Ornithological Museum is the best way to immerse yourself in Nature and increase your knowledge. Come and discover Lake Como and its inhabitants! You will look at the world with renewed fascination and wonder.

For further information, at the Museum you can purchase the volume “The Birds of the Provinces of Como and Lecco”, an annotated checklist of the species which populate Varenna and its surroundings. Accompanied by splendid images and texts in Italian and English, the book combines scientific rigor with an informative slant and cannot be missing from the shelves of any nature lover.

Opening time and Information

The museum can be visited during the opening hours of the Infopoint.

Where are we

Varenna, Via IV Novembre, 7
You can enter the museum via the Infopoint Varenna Turismo’s Entrance.

Entrance through the Infopoint Varenna Turismo office.

Tickets

Full price – 3 €
Free admission – From 0 to 17 years old / Varenna local resident / Tourist guides

Useful links

• Video presentation of the Museum (Italian speaking)
  courtesy of Roberto Brembilla and Gaia Bazzi
• Museum’s Facebook page
• C.R.O.S. Varenna
  Centro Ricerche Ornitologiche Scanagatta website: local association of ornithology and bird-watching enthusiasts.
• Birds of the Provinces of Como and Lecco (2020)
  Book description and PDF Edition.

Contacts

InfoPoint Varenna Turismo
T +39 350 1573202
M infopoint@varennaturismo.com

FROM THE SOURCE TO THE LAKE IN ONLY 250 M

THE WHITE-MILK WATER STREAM

Fiumelatte is to be numbered among the shortest water-courses in Italy, developing only for 250 m. from its source to the dive into the lake. It hurls down the valley with an average gradient of 36° and for this reason its roaring waters are foamy, among the huge rocks scattered along its riverbed, giving it an incredible milk-white colour, a phenomenon from wich it gets the name.
It is an impermanent river as its waters are seasonal: they appear very quickly towards the end of March and then they disappear, as if by magic, about October.

“Anomalous” periods of activity or of dryness are not rare and they must be traced to the dry spells or to the rainfalls of the season.
Along the centuries the river has excited the curiosity of many persons: even Leonardo, who mentions the “Fiumelaccio” in the paper 214 of The Atlantic Code.

HOW TO REACH THE SOURCE

Walking towards south from Piazza San Giorgio after about 200 meters there is Via Roma that goes up to the small square of the Cemetery. Here, on the left, there’s a short flight of steps that gets steeper and steeper but at the end it starts a track parallel to the lake which runs along the side of the mountain and reaches the Fiumelatte.

For those wishing to stop near the source, a small but well-equipped picnic area is located right on the edge of the river.

BETWEEN ANCIENT AND MODERN

ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL VILLAS AND GARDENS IN LARIO AREA

The magnificent complex of buildings and gardens, created and built between 1400 and 1800, today represents a perfect and harmonious combination of ancient and modern functionality, made possible by a careful restoration by the R Collection Hotels Group which has seen the pre-existing architectural lines maintained.
Originally part of the Serponti family’s heritage, the structure subsequently passed into the hands of various prestigious personalities, such as Baron Isimbardi, who at the beginning of the nineteenth century set up a laboratory of the Milan Mint, of which he was Director; the Andreossi family, Sir Sulton, the English Astley and, finally, the Accame family. In 1980 it was purchased by the inhabitants of Varenna, through a public and voluntary subscription, to be destined for public use.

Currently owned by the Municipality of Varenna, it is now used as a renowned hotel/restaurant – convention centre. Municipal seat for civil weddings, every year it hosts dozens of weddings of couples from all over the world.

ARCHITECTURE AND BOTANICS

ON THE LARIO BANKS

The Villa, owned by the Province of Lecco, is one of the main historical-landscape-environmental sites in the area, thanks also to its privileged position.
The complex consists of the villa, now transformed into a museum and used as a Convention Center (known internationally), and the gorgeous botanical garden that surrounds it, which extends for almost two km following the lake shore.