As you reach the Ventulosa of
Villa d'Alme' you are in the Brembana Valley. Turning right along Botta di Sedrina, at about two kilometres, you get to
Sedrina. Here you can visit the wonderful church built by Mario Codussi (who also built lots of monuments in Venice as well) where you can find an important Lorenzo Lotto's masterpiece. The road you are driving on follows the line of the ancient Priula road but soon it will be substituted by a new clearway. Along this road you can see the oldest bridge of the Valley.
It has a lot of little arches and from here Pacì Paciana better known as the Padrù, the "owner", of the Brembana Valley throw himself into the river. He was a highway man whose life became a legend. Turning on your left, you reach Brembilla a very labourious village. Following the road you get to the vast and green valley of Zogno.
Zogno with more than 10.000 inhabitants, industries and offices is the chief town of the whole Valley. Zogno has also a lot of hamlets settled near green grazings and woods.
The big cross of Canto Alto watches over the whole valley of Zogno. Here tourists can visit the "Museum of the Valley", a monumental area near the church and the monastery of Romacolo. You cannot help visiting the church of Grumello de Zanchi where you can find some precious paintings of De Pieri. Then in Stabello you can also see a well-preserved romanic church.
The painters Licini and Gavazzeni were born in Poscante, another hamlet of Zogno. In Endenna there is one of the most ancient church of the whole valley where is preserved the skull of the apostle Barnaba. Following the road you reach Ambria (looking on your left you see three fountains and some ancient and interesting buildings of the Fifteen Century) and at least you get to San Pellegrino Terme, the most famous tourists resort of the province. Here you can visit the old "Grand Hotel" and the "Casinò".
In
San Pellegrino Terme is bottled the famous mineral water exported all over the world. From San Pellegrino Terme you go to
San
Giovanni Bianco, better known as "the village of the bridges" in fact you can see seven bridges, most of them very ancient. Carlo Ceresa and Giovanni Busi known as the "Cariani" were born here. But before reaching San Giovanni Bianco you have to visit Dossena in order to see a church where there are some paintings of Veronese, Santacroce, Ceresa, Ridolfi, Cassano, Reimier, Meevens and Cefrondi. If you like you can reach San Giovanni Bianco passing by San Pietro d'Orzio. Leaving
Dossena you have to visit
Cornello dei Tasso a jewel of the Brembana Valley: this hamlet is the famous Torquato Tasso's father's birth place. Then you can go "beyond the Goggia", the high part of the Brembana Valley where there is the village of
Lenna with its wonderful neo-Gothic church dedicated to San Martino (here there is a precious altar-piece painted by Lattanzio from Rimini and some sculptures of Andrea Fantoni).
On the right of
Piazza Brembana there are Valnegra and
Roncobello "the green pearls" of the Valley; beyond them there is
Isola di Fondra and then Trabuchello and
Branzi. From here you can go to the branch of
Carona (famous for its "twin lakes"), or to the one of Valleve and
Foppolo, very important European ski resorts. On the left there is
Olmo al Brembo from where you can reach the other valleys: the Stabina Valley (with Cassiglio, Ornica and Valtorta, very interesting mountain recesses) the
Averara Valley with Averara (where you can see the ancient Venice custom)
Santa Brigida and
Cusio (near this village there is Monte Avaro with its wonderful ski resorts).
In the Brembana Valley there are also the villages of
Piazzolo,
Piazzatorre (the so-called "old lady" of tourism) and
Mezzoldo where is the terminus of Priula road. From here begins a beautiful panoramic road that reaches Cà San Marco and the mountain pass through which you can go to Morbegno. Our travel through the Brembana Valley is over. Here during the transhumance there are lots of cows herds whose precious milk is used to make the famous "FORMAI DE MUT" an inimitable and traditional Orobic cheese.
BREMBANA VALLEY SKI
WEBCAM OROBIE ALPS
ACCOMMODATION
The Brembana Valley is a hard but generous land to those who can appreciate and love it.