Canzo

It is the last municipality of Vallassina and the northernmost of Brianza.

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Canzo

Canzo is a small town in the province of Como, capital of the mountain community of the Larian triangle, in the Lombard Prealps.

It is the last municipality of Vallasina and the northernmost of Brianza. The most ancient testimony of Canzo is the tumulus tomb discovered near the lake of Segrino, belonging to the Bronze Age in which human remains and some objects were found: arrowheads, fragments of vases and jewelry. In 1800 it became an important tourist destination and with the advent of the Northern Railways, arrived in 1922, a period of socio-economic expansion began which consolidated its development and its notoriety as a place rich in history and culture.

To visit

In the center of the village, you can admire the Baroque parish church of Santo Stefano, a precious architectural jewel. Other historical presences worthy of interest are the church of San Francesco and the hermitage of San Miro, ancient testimonies of the monastic presence in Canzo. The most important civil artistic testimonies are characterized by manor houses from the 1700s and 1800s, including Villa Meda, now home to the civic library, Villa Tentori, Villa Barni and Villa and Parco Magni. Of particular interest is the Theater built at the end of the 1700s along the lines of the La Scala theater in Milan, a very active meeting and entertainment venue.

At Villa Meda, also famous for having stayed there Alessandro Manzoni, at the beginning of September there is a review of artifacts and organic farming products called Biofera; is one of the most respected trade fairs in Italy.

Walks and excursions

Canzo is an ideal place for a trip “out of town”; there are so many walks and excursions possible also with the family. It is worth remembering the Lago del Segrino, a small lake of shallow glacial origin, where it exists along its entire perimeter, a beautiful cycling and walking track ideal for a quiet walk out of the chaos of the city and in contact with nature and its inhabitants.

Fascinating for its pure water, near the Ravella stream, you can relax at the sources of Gajum and then continue towards the Alp, mountain villages once inhabited all year round by farmers with cattle; they are formed by a single housing block, vaulted with other small houses, and the ice-houses for food.

Spirit of the forest

In the Canzo wood this artist has succeeded in creating an astonishing journey, in which the imagination joins the game, without ever losing sight of the natural context in which the installations are inserted: he has created wooden sculptures using what nature offered to turn the forest into a corner of magic. The fallen trees have become staircases, the trunks have turned into gnomes, the roots have become arms and the leaves have become wings. The installations of the Path of the Spirit of the Wood live in the mountain and together with the mountain, transforming it into an enchanted forest.

The mountains of Canzo

At the I Alpe you can visit the Sentiero dello Spirito del Bosco, a path created and created in 2008 by the artist Alessandro Cortinovis, thanks to the Regional Agency for Agriculture and Forestry Services, which transformed this corner of Brianza mountain into a family friendly destination.

From here, for the more experienced, it is possible to reach Mount Cornizzolo, the launching point for many deltaplanists and the Canzo Peaks, a small mountain group made up of three rocky peaks. From the summit, a spectacular view of the Briantei Lakes, Lake Como and a karst phenomenon called “the furrowed fields”.
Nearby, the Sasso Malascarpa Nature Reserve is one of the areas of greatest geological interest in Lombardy. The whole territory of Cornizzolo is formed by a slow stratification of the shallow sea beds populated by a great variety of molluscs and fish. Here you can still see many fossils, among the stratified rocks and caves, you can admire numerous rare and protected botanical species.

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