Home | Val San Martino | Erve

Its origin is uncertain, it is said that it was Frenchmen who settled and built the first houses in the nucleus of Nesolio because the valley bottom was a lake. A manuscript memory of the nineteenth century, preserved in the Parish Archive, mentions the tradition that a first human presence in Nesolio dates back to the Frankish period.

Only afterwards it was possible to descend from the high hamlets, Costa, Gnett, Saina and build the present town center divided lengthwise in all its length by the Gallavesa stream that descends from Resegone and after a short stretch it plunges overhanging into that ravine called “Dog paradise”.
Numerous are the bridges that connect the houses of the one and the other shore, giving the inhabited area a very singular urbanistic aspect.

The spectacular road, carved into the rock, overhanging a precipice of over 150 meters, removed the village from secular isolation in the early 1900s. In the second half of the twentieth century the road is paved and so Erve becomes the object of the attention of tourists, a holiday destination for the Milan and Brianza area, attracted above all by the tranquility of the place and the natural and scenic beauty. Even today, many mountain lovers choose Erve as a starting point for their excursions.

Until the 1960s, a series of electricity production plants were active along the Gallavesa torrent, which at the time had to supply the large Californian companies, starting from Sali di Bario.

But even before the advent of the industries, the water of the Gallavesa made to work mallets and forges, in particular in the locality Tovo. A story that – with ever more advanced technologies – continues today with the modern turbine. For mountaineering enthusiasts, the Resegone offers an excellent gym with numerous itineraries of varying difficulty with a spectacular view over the entire Val San Martino and the Adda valley, the Brianza with its ponds, the Valsassina and the Canzo Peaks.

Near the Passata and on Mount Magnodeno, boundary stones recall that Erve was together with Vercurago, the last bastion of the Serenissima Republic of Venice. In the Valderve you can enjoy pleasant and peaceful walks in the woods and in the villages that surround the town. There are numerous rare flower species such as the primula auricola, the red lily, orchids and the martagon lily. It is not rare to find roe deer, chamois and other wild animals.

Sunny meadows for relaxing and pools of cold water along the Gallavesa to cool off are a destination for many families with children during the summer. In the Gnett area, you will find the famous San Carlo water source with the inscription “Pass quietly between noise and haste but remember how much peace there can be in the silence of the mountains“.