When I think of Valle Imagna, the first adjective that comes to mind is green. Green is its landscape, its ridges and the outlines of its mountains. There really is a lot to see, because it takes in several villages with a remarkable historical and natural heritage.
We are in the province of Bergamo, in the Bergamo Prealps, less than an hour’s drive from the city: it is one of those valleys almost nobody puts on an itinerary, and precisely for that reason you can enjoy it in peace.
First of all I’d like to tell you about Rota d’Imagna, where I had the pleasure of returning for the second time.
This small village, split between Rota Dentro and Rota Fuori, was the birthplace of the famous architect Giacomo Quarenghi (1744-1817), one of the leading figures of neoclassical architecture in Russia. He was born precisely in the hamlet of Capiatone, the son of a painter, and in 1779 he was summoned to St Petersburg by Catherine II: he spent almost forty years there and designed the Academy of Sciences, the Hermitage Theatre and the Smolny Institute, reshaping the imperial capital. His seventeenth-century birthplace is still there: just ask for Ca’ Piatone.
Do you love trekking in nature?
Perfect!
Various walks for trekking and mountain biking enthusiasts set off from Valle Imagna. Not far away, too, there are very ancient caves in which traces of human settlement dating from the Bronze Age were found.
In short, if you want to spend a holiday in contact with nature and eat excellent food, don’t miss the chance to have this unforgettable experience.
Would you like to know more?
Let’s go!
Reaching Fuipiano and discovering mountain peace
One of the loveliest places in Valle Imagna is Fuipiano, a small municipality looking out over the slopes of the valley. The old houses in local stone and the typical mountain huts make it truly delightful, with the charm you only find in mountain villages.
The impression I had was of a place where peace and quiet reign without equal. It almost seems that time stopped in the Middle Ages and that the few houses keep a rhythm all of their own.
I was lucky enough to visit on a beautiful sunny day and, between the rustling of leaves in the wind and the birdsong, for a few minutes Valle Imagna showed me what being at peace with nature really means.
Fuipiano lies at about 1000 metres and is reached by the panoramic road running the length of Valle Imagna. Given its position, you will feel you are standing on a great balcony from which to admire the finest spots in the valley. It is also the most convenient starting point for climbing Monte Resegone and for the Tre Faggi loop.
Here’s a curiosity!
For centuries this ridge was border country between the Republic of Venice and the Duchy of Milan, and from here the movement of people and goods was controlled. Bearing witness to that history are the stone boundary markers that traced the line between the two states, rather like the ones I found in the Sibillini Mountains.
A real speciality of this place are the piöde roofs. These are roofs made of local stone, worked down into slabs of varying thickness. The practice of roofing houses with these materials has sadly largely fallen out of use, but there are still craftsmen in the valley keeping these ancient traditions alive.
One last thing to see!
Along the road there is a small chapel able to hold twenty people at most. What is unusual about it is that it preserves an old fresco attributed to the Quarenghi family, the same family as the architect I mentioned a moment ago: before giving Europe a master of neoclassicism, they were a family of valley painters.
But the treasures of Valle Imagna certainly don’t end here!
The Resegone forest
This valley takes its name from the Imagna stream that runs through it and flows into the river Brembo. The beauty of the place also comes from the wonders of nature: waterfalls, brooks, trails with breathtaking landscapes and vegetation as far as the eye can see.
One place I recommend visiting is the natural monument of the Brunone valley, at Berbenno, where there are important palaeontological deposits and natural sulphurous springs.
Another marvellous spot in Valle Imagna is the Resegone forest, on the mountain of the same name, the one with the saw-toothed profile that Manzoni made famous in the opening lines of The Betrothed. Among its little waterfalls and its paths you can finally enjoy a moment of peace in close contact with nature.
The forest is the ideal place for lovers of mountain woodland and it also has great naturalistic value. It is home to a great many centuries-old trees as well as to chamois, roe deer and all the fauna typical of these mountain environments.
This Valle Imagna forest is so rich in biodiversity that it falls within a European special protection area.
Needless to say, a great deal of active tourism goes on in Valle Imagna. The mountain lanes are busy every day with cyclists, hikers and horse riders.
The sanctuary of the Cornabusa
If you stand at any elevated point in Valle Imagna, you will certainly notice the many bell towers peeping out from the green of the valley. As you can easily imagine, they belong to the numerous churches and old sanctuaries dating from distant eras.
Of them all, the one that struck me most was the sanctuary of the Cornabusa, in the municipality of Sant’Omobono Imagna.
It is a church carved entirely out of a natural cave, enlarged from the sixteenth century onwards and still today a much-frequented place of worship. From the sanctuary of the Cornabusa you can look out over the whole of Valle Imagna: it is a genuinely striking place, because nature and human work harmonise perfectly.
But what is its story?
You should know that the origins of the sanctuary of the Cornabusa lie in the period of the wars between Guelphs and Ghibellines, between 1350 and 1440. The story goes that some inhabitants took refuge in a natural cavity, a “corna busa” in the Bergamo dialect, meaning a hollow rock, precisely to escape the violence.
With them they had only a small wooden Madonna, which they left in the cave in thanksgiving. Legend has it that years later a deaf and mute girl was healed in front of that statuette and that, having regained her speech, she asked for a sanctuary to be built there. Hence the construction of the church. The old carving is still kept here, and every year it draws pilgrims from all over the Bergamo area.
If you want to visit the sanctuary of the Cornabusa in Valle Imagna, bear in mind that the full season traditionally opens on Easter Monday and continues all summer, because in winter the access road can be difficult; in the cold months the cave remains visitable with reduced hours. Check the sanctuary’s website before heading up.
I visited the sanctuary of the Cornabusa on a Sunday morning, while mass was being celebrated. The sanctuary was packed with worshippers praying while small drops of water fell from the damp ceiling. The sun’s rays warmed the shoulders of those present while the cool of the cave gave off a scent of earth, woodland, incense and serenity.
I was profoundly moved!
The rotunda of San Tomè
Coming down Valle Imagna along the road to Bergamo, at a certain point you can glimpse a small dome. My instinct as a medieval art historian could not fail to notice it: I turned the corner and discovered a little treasure!
The rotunda of San Tomè, which stands at Almenno San Bartolomeo, at the mouth of the valley, is a circular building dating from the twelfth century in which you can breathe the centuries. It is a not very large monument on a central plan, made up of three superimposed cylinders. The cylinders narrow as they rise, forming at the top a lantern with four elegant paired windows facing each other.
Why is it worth visiting?
The rotunda of San Tomè has all the characteristics of Romanesque architecture: sobriety, a relationship with the solar cycles of the seasons, a refusal of waste. The stones, fairly bare, speak to us of a distant time. Consider that some were reused from older buildings and carry early medieval carvings.
Thanks to two internal staircases, you can climb up to the gallery and walk around the ambulatory.
On the walls of the rotunda of San Tomè the remains of an Annunciation and of a Madonna enthroned with Child survive. The impression you get on entering is that the building must have been richly decorated with artistic elements of excellent quality.
It is one of the finest Romanesque survivals in the area, curious for its central plan and for its position, today practically isolated in the middle of the fields. For me it was love at first sight! A practical note: being run by volunteers, it has limited opening hours, usually at weekends, so check before going.
Valle Imagna: the high bridge where the birds of prey fly
Still on the road, at a certain point you notice a small lay-by and a steep path: I have to thank Signora Ilse of the hotel Miramonti, otherwise I would never have stopped and would have missed a very striking sight.
You should know that crossing Valle Imagna there is a long bridge: the ponte Chitò, which connects the slopes of Berbenno and Bedulita, spanning the stream’s gorge.
A beautiful cycling and walking route starts from here, entirely immersed in nature: on one side it leads to the road, on the other it takes you into the heart of a beautiful forest.
But the finest thing is the view.
While I was walking on the bridge some large birds of prey came to settle a few metres from me: it was wonderful to see them so close and in their natural environment. An indescribable feeling.
Where to sleep and what to eat in Valle Imagna
During my stay in Valle Imagna I was the guest of a hotel I fell in love with.
It is called hotel Miramonti and it looks straight out over the valley and the green sea of the mountains. Breakfast is enjoyed on a terrace with a view and the rooms are very lovely.
The hotel offers everything you need to relax on holiday: a spa with a whirlpool, sauna, Turkish bath, Kneipp circuit and a relaxation area. But the thing I loved most was the heated pool, both indoor and outdoor.
If the weather is good you can enjoy the sun and the landscape from the loungers or the soft cushions on the lawn outside.
We had the pleasure of meeting the family who run the place and the wonderful Signora Ornella. She told us she built the hotel with her mother and her sisters in 1964, and that today she is the chef of the Gritti restaurant inside the hotel.
For me it was a wonderful experience!
I discovered how casoncelli and foiade are made at home, I tasted polenta taragna and I was able to watch her preparing the Quarenghi cake: a ring cake of her own invention made with dried figs, chocolate and cornmeal, dedicated to the most illustrious citizen of Rota d’Imagna.
It is worth saying a couple of words about the food of this valley, because it is the reason many Bergamo locals drive up on a Sunday: casoncelli are meat-filled ravioli dressed with butter, pancetta and sage; foiade are wide tagliatelle, often served with mushrooms; polenta taragna is made with buckwheat flour and mountain cheese. Add stracchino all’antica delle valli orobiche, a Slow Food presidium, and you understand why nobody goes home light from here.
In short, the ingredients of our stay were excellent food, relaxation and constant discoveries.
I have to admit it, I left a little piece of my heart in Valle Imagna.
And you, what kind of mountains are you after: the one of trails and woods, or the one of stone villages and ancient churches?
