History and Art

It is historically known as the territory of the Tre Pievi: Gravedona, Dongo and Sorico were the towns which held religious and administrative power.

The area was certainly frequented and inhabited during the Roman era.
The important route of the Strada Regina became even more strategic between Gravedona and Dongo as traversally one could reach the Sant'Jorio mountain pass and then descend to la Mesolcina (where today we find Bellinzona).
Signs of the past, are still there ready to be studied and decifered...
It is the religious buildings which almost always keep the most visible evidence of the roman age right up to the splendor of the baroque period.
In Santa Maria Rezzonico the remains of an ancient fortified enclosure dated around 5th-6th century are still visible.

This was used as a barrier, a check-point on lake traffic but also on the mainland along the Via Regina. In Gera Lario we find traces of mosaics probably beloning to a Roman domus.

The medieval age transmits all of its charm, its mistery in the fascinating sacred area of Gravedona where we find one of the most unique buildings of the Roman-Lombard period, Santa Maria del Tiglio.
On shores of Lake Mezzola, surrounded by silence and nature lies the Chapel
of San Fedelino dated year 1000.

The language of the Renaissance period is still alive and it is a true surprise to find entire cycles of frescos in very good condition and of great pictoral rendering as those of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Gravedona, of San Vincenzo in Gera or San Martino in Montemezzo and again of San Miro in Sorico or San Giacomo in Livo.

The 1500s in the Alto Lario is a surprise for many and has for this
reason been defined by some as the Little Tuscany of the Como Region.

Finally the 1600s offers us the vivid theatrical colours of the Fiammenghino in his potrayal of hell in the similarly surprising church of Sant Eusebio in Peglio built in a splendid position which look over the lake and the surrounding mountains.
The uniqueness and the artistic beauty of these places become even more important if one thinks of the landscape and fascinating natural environment they are situated in....