Excursion to Montepiatto

The starting point for this Spring - Summer - Fall recommended itinerary is Brunate, reachable by car, bus and funicular from Como.

We recommend taking the funicular both for the speed of the trip (7 minutes) and for the splendid panoramic views. When you arrive in Brunate go down from the lower exit and cross the street going to the right. After about one hundred meters, in front of Villa Giuliani, you will see the historic "Campari" advertising fountain. Proceed then to Via Nidrino.

The descent leads to a soccer field, after which it is necessary to take the path through chestnut woods indicated by the sign "Strada Regia".
Continue along the path paying attention to some not very wide stretches and in correspondence of the votive chapel continue towards Montepiatto.

The path becomes wider and easier. When you reach a deviation, cross the wooden bridge following the direction to Montepiatto. After about 1 hour you will see the first houses of the village Monti di Sorto. Here you will find a small votive chapel dedicated to the Madonna del Rosario.

Continue on the level along a meadow, pass a small valley and arrive at Sasso del Lupo.

The "Sasso del Lupo" is a big monolith of ghiandone granite coming from imposing glacial movements that made possible its displacement from Val Masino. Leaning directly on the ground, it is a huge slab 20 meters long, 10 wide, 8 high and weighing about 4,000 tons. The Sasso del Lupo forms a sort of "cavern" with the back of the mountain: according to popular tradition, in this "den" is hidden a terrible wolf who kidnapped naughty and disobedient children.

A little further on you will come across a small group of houses called the "Monti di Cazzanore". Continue keeping to the right and flanking some buildings in disuse. You will then enter another small valley after which you will find a house supported by a dry stone wall. A few minutes and you can see the first roofs of Montepiatto.

Once in Montepiatto you can relax in the park near the Crotto Montepiatto where it is also possible for children to play in the playground or go up to the Church of S. Elisabetta, an ancient nunnery that dominates the summit of the mountain with a breathtaking view that turns on the lake and the mountains that surround it. From here we recommend taking the path below the church that leads to the "Pietra Pendula".

The "Pietra Pendula" is an erratic boulder (= finding) of gyandone granite transported by the ancient gigantic glaciers of the quaternary period (50 - 60.000 million years ago). The basic limestone rock on which the stone rests, was then worked in column by men so that it was in the current form of a giant mushroom. For the return trip we will retrace the same road made on the way out. Now we can stop, for a well-deserved refreshment and succulent dishes, at the Crotto Montepiatto, at the entrance of the detour to Mount Croce d'Ardona where there was the Castel d'Ardona, now ruins.

To return from Montepiatto, take the junction in the direction of Brunate to follow the itinerary backwards or continue towards Torno, crossing the Vall di Cornu along the stepped path. Here ferries and buses facilitate the return to Como.

Montepiatto is located in the middle of a crossroads of paths and routes that allow beautiful walks inside this side of Triangolo Lariano: walking northwards, at first you can reach Piazzaga (another mountain locality in the territory of the municipality of Torno) and further on Molina, fraction of Faggeto Lario; walking instead the narrow path on the mountainside that goes southwards, you can reach the locality of Majocco of the mountains of Blevio and, continuing, Brunate. Going up towards the mountain Croce d'Ardona (where there are the ruins of the homonymous castle), it is possible to go through all the paths of the Triangolo Lariano.

We suggest to take the funicular from Como to Brunate.
If you come back from Torno, take the bus or the ferry for the return.