Stage 3 – From the Giardino della Valle (Garden Valley) to the Ancient Borderline of the three Municipalities

Description

At the exit of the Giardino della Valle from the gate on Monte Santo Street, take the cobbled street on the right and go up among the enclosures of some villas and buildings of ancient rural origins. After 50 metres the rise becomes steep; the last stretch is characterized by 37 low steps up to the crossover with the paved Libertà Street. Here is the bus station of the C28 Como- Rovenna route. Turn left downhill along Libertà Street; pass the bridge on the torrent Garrovo, cross the street with attention –there are no zebra crossings – and follow on up to Angelo Noseda Street. Keep left for about 75 metres; then take downhill Casnedo Street, with twenty-four cobbled steps in the first part; after turning on the right, it becomes flat and paved, until a flight of ten steps on the right takes to the churchyard of the Church of St. Nicholas in Casnedo . The sacred building stands on the site of a former oratory built in the 18th century by the noble family Perti (who owned the adjoining villa) named after Saint Carlo Borromeo of Milan; the devotion to St. Nicholas dates back to the use of the little community to attend to the church services, located in the ancient monastery of the Assumption in Cernobbio, closed in 1784, where Villa Gastel now stands. From the churchyard go down along Monte Grappa Street; after about 50 metres two half-gates staggered of one meter block the access to motor vehicles. On the first bend of the road, find a lovely vantage point on the first basin of the lake: looking right, we can admire one of the most well-known and glamourous high class buildings of the Como lake: Villa d’Este, international and well-known exclusive hotel .In the upper part of the park it is possible to see fortifications clinging to the rock built by the countess Vittoria Peluso in the first years of the 19th century in order to remember the victories of her husband Domenico Pino, Napoleonic lieutenant, during the military campaign in Spain. Beside Villa D’Este, after the bay, it is possible to see the cape and have a glimpse of Villa Pizzo, with its lush garden in Italian Style.

Turn right, going down on an uneven paved road among enclosures of wonderful villas realized at the turn of the 20th Century, till Valle Armee Street. Cross the street (pay attention because there are no zebra crossings) and go down for about 30 metres; on the right of a drinking fountain, follow Parini Street, a steep cobbled flight of steps downhill (94 steps) till you arrive to a little widening in front of the entrance of The House of St. Mary of Peace in the hamlet Stimianico and in front of the entrance of Villa Cicogna . In 1899 the rich merchant Giuseppe Gabba of Milan, at the time owner of the Villa Cicogna in Stimniaco, gave a portion of his property to Father Luigi Guanella who inaugurated the Casa Femminile (Home for Women’s), placing it under the management of the nuns’ order he had founded, which served also as a home for widowed ladies. Today the Home has been sold to a private company, which carries the project on. Go downhill along Libertà Street keeping to the right side (pay attention at the cars parked on the pavement in the first stretch) and going along the Greggio torrent which after a first stretch has been covered in order to create a parking lot, flanked by a pavement made of porphyry. At the end of the parking, cross the street and walk through a pavement made of tiles and porphyry, before crossing Plinio Street, where in a building, today seat of the bank Credito Cooperativo di Cantu’, just beside the cash dispenser on the right, a little niche accommodates a picture of the Madonna del Bisbino protected by a grid. In this area stood the old bridge on the torrent Greggio where, until 1929, met the borderlines of Cernobbio, S. Stefano Square and Rovenna (The Ancient Borderline of The Three Municipalities) . In that year they were united under a single municipality. This area was known as the hamlet Crotti, because 3 taverns existed there at the turn of the 20th century.

Gallery

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