Are You Addicted To Old Hamlets? If So, You Must Visit Moltrasio on Lake Como [Infographic]
© Lakeside
Time for a new Town Guide with infographic!
Today we bring you to another gem along the western shore: Moltrasio.
We begin with a fun fact: just in front of the town hall, in the historic center of this village, there’s a fresco with sundials saying pretty much this: "Moltrasio, a village where time is always peaceful".
Let's start from here, from this kind of declaration of love, to explore Moltrasio, one of the most picturesque villages of the western shore of Lake Como, located right below the slopes of Monte Bisbino.
© Lakeside
Moltrasio is a beautiful story born from the poetic dialogue between stone - yes, the famous Moltrasio stone that you can clearly see in the ancient quarries along Sentee di Sort - and water, the one from Pizzallo waterfall that crosses the village as in an ancient painting. It's not difficult to imagine how the endless murmur of the flowing waterfall was a precious source of inspiration for Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835), who composed La Straniera and part of La Sonnambula right in Moltrasio.
Moltrasio painted by artist Paul Wright
And then there are the narrow stairways and stone-paved streets that go down to the lake (including the famous Holy Staircase that runs alongside the magnificent Villa Passalacqua), the terraces that in the past were vineyards and olive groves, the stone quarries made famous by Maestri Comacini, the dry-stone walls built with the waste produced during the extraction of the Moltrasio rock, the iconic Pasètt bridge in the historic center (one of the oldest of the area), the ancient buildings of the historic center, the villas that attracted creative minds like Gianni Versace (who owned the delightful Villa Fontanelle here) and Vincenzo Bellini (to whom a splendid marble statue by Massimo Clerici near Piazza San Rocco is dedicated), the mountain paths that have been lands of partisan raids during the Second World War and of home of smuggling with Switzerland in the post-war ages. And much more!
Moltrasio with its 12 districts (Borgo, Casarico, Carisciano, Creolino, Somaino, Luscesino, Vignola, Casarevolo, Roiano, Tosnacco, Vergonzano, and Vighinzano) is pure poetry, that just waits to be discovered.
Not surprisingly, according to 2019 Skyscanner ranking, Moltrasio is the 4th most beautiful hamlet of Italy.
© Lakeside
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