Saturday, 15 September
Peppino is a guide with a difference. He is less concerned with the world-famous Duomo di Milano, the theatre La Scala and all the usual sights of Milan. I urge him to take me to these famous landmarks but he keeps saying, “Later...”
On 12 November the cultural association Kernunnos will celebrate Milan's “birthday” by circumambulating what is thought to be its first ancient boundary. Peppino, a regular visitor to Villa Govinda where I currently live in Olgiate Molgora, just half-an-hour's train ride away from the world-famous capital of the Lombardy region of Italy, offered to be my tour-guide of the same route.
I quickly realise that Peppino is offering an alternative perspective to fashionable Milan. As I listen to the myths and legends about the founding of this city, it is hard to conceive that he speaks of the same Milan.
Peppino tells me that Tito Livio (59 BC-17 AD) first wrote of how, according to ancient Celtic tradition, the young brothers Belloveso and Segoveso left their tribe in Austria at around 5 BC to create new tribes when it had grown too large. Livio relates that Belloveso headed towards Italy. Interestingly, it is believed that all Italic-Celts came from Halstatt, one of the first Celtic settlements on the Continent.
The popular myth is that Belloveso was hunting when he followed a boar into a natural clearing in the trees. However the boar was mysteriously gone when the hunters approached. They interpreted this as a sign from the gods since the boar is a particularly sacred animal for the Celts – in fact it represented the druid or priestly class.
Apparently, before the Romans renamed the city Mediolanum, the original name was Medhelanon which could mean either 'a sow with long hair' or 'perfect circle'. The clearing was a holy place for performing rituals and sacrifices so the name fit nicely.
Belloveso and his people settled just outside the circle despite the marshy ground. When the Romans arrived they built a wall around the existing settlement although it naturally continued to expand. Milan is built in a rather circular way and the old city-gates lay testimony to newer walls being built around an ever-growing city. Investigation into this myth took off in the 1800s when an ancient embossment of a boar was found during excavations.
It takes us less than a couple of hours to complete our leisurely tour around the 'perfect circle' – a circular path through the city with Piazza della Scala and its prominent statue of Leonardo da Vinci at its centre. The circle's circumference passes through the extraordinary Galleria Vittorio Emanuele with its elaborate architecture and expensive shops, and which has on its other side the Piazza del Duomo with its truly impressive Gothic cathedral.
From Piazza del Duomo we proceed towards the Castello Mediceo passing the Broletto in Via dei Mercanti. The Broletto is a medieval building where all city issues where decided upon. Peppino points to the top of a pillar just beneath one of the arches. There is a stone bearing the embossed image of a boar. He grins, evidently attached to the myth.
As we continue towards the alluring castle, Peppino suddenly ushers me off the road and through an archway, ignoring my protests. He points to the coat-of-arms between two windows above it. The same symbol of the boar is reproduced. “You see!” he says, satisfied.
Tuesday, 18 September
In these days spent having an alternative agritourism experience at Villa Govinda, conversations over meals have revealed the presence of several treasures in La Brianza, as this part of Lombardy is called. I thus endeavour to occasionally interrupt my peaceful retreat by making the time to discover them.
Daily I hear bells sweetly ringing the 'Ave Maria' from the church of Montevecchia perched atop the first hill if one approaches north from Milan along the plains of Pianura Padana. Standing prominently it can be seen from miles away, therefore sense of direction is not an issue when Colin and I walk to it through the Parco Regionale di Montevecchia e della Valle del Curone, whose boundaries stretch to where Villa Govinda is.
When we finally reach past the tiny car-park, we understand why Italian 'Sunday tourists' flock to this place. Although the town of Montevecchia has a modern extension below the original settlement, here a few large buildings line cobbled streets while a few country houses are scattered on a predominantly green hill-side. It all looks pretty but there is no doubt that the most striking element of Montevecchia is the view.
We learn from a friendly local that during the last two ice-ages, 250,000 and 75,000 years ago, a glacier heading south was blocked by the mountain range of which Montevecchia is part and split into two. Thus Montevecchia and its valleys – La Valle del Curone and La Valle Santa Croce – were left intact so this area preserves flora and fauna which were destroyed in other areas.
Furthermore, from here it is possible to see almost the entire Pianura Padana all the way until the Ligurian Apennines on clear days! Today I am simply impressed by the mountains known as Il Resegone, part of the Valsassina range near Lecco to the north, and I Corni di Canzo with its three prominent bumps on the peak!
No surprise, then, that 60,000 years ago, early man coming from other parts of Europe chose to settle here! Evidence of two settlements were found in the middle of Valle del Curone – one dating back to 62,000 BC belonging to the Neanderthal man and the other of Sapiens Sapiens from 30,000 BC!
Friday, 21 September
Although it is near Il Resegone and other mountains, Monte Barro is completely detached from them. Its phase as an island amidst the ice make it rich in flora and fauna with more than 1000 species in less than 700 hectares of land now the Parco Monte Barro. A much smaller park than the more famous and extensive Parco di Monza nearer Milan, it remains one of the most important nature conservation areas in Europe.
The park includes some archaeological remains and an old hermitage-cum-restaurant complete with church. However Colin and I simply want to hike to the peak at 922 metres. The way, accompanied by beautiful butterflies, is not demanding while from the top the 360 degrees view is stunning.
Colin's binoculars reveal crosses erected on the highest peak of each mountain! The city of Lecco and its lake lie below while on the other side the Lago di Annone and three other lakes loom in distant view. I feel like I want to write a poem!
Wednesday, 26 September
Quite a remarkable place to enjoy some beach time! I am inspired by some locals to lick up the late-summer sun and have a dip in the Lecco branch of the Lario lake. The water is cold but bearable and I do not want to think of what lies within it dark depths of 410 metres reaching below sea-level, making it one of the deepest lakes in Europe!
The inverted Y-shape of the Lario is thus divided into three: the Como branch to the west, the Lecco branch on the east and the Colico branch to the north. Also known as Lago di Como, it has a total surface area of 146 km making it the third largest in Italy after Lago di Garda and Lago Maggiore.
The lake is surrounded by small towns, setting of Alessandro Manzoni's famous piece of literature, “I Promessi Sposi” from the last century. I saw his house on that circuit in Milan. In his book Manzoni describes how here the lake ceases and starts again as the river Adda. Indeed it heads south to become first the Lago di Garlate, then Lago di Olginate and then continues its flow towards the river Po.
I am quite surprised to see several sailing and wind-surfing schools considering the towering Valsassina mountains which I had first observed from Montevecchia, yet a northerly or southerly wind is indeed common.
The sheltering mountains combined with the lake-water, this wind and the sunshine enjoyed by Lecco enable growth of several Asian and Mediterranean plants in this area, including olives and grapes. So near to Switzerland yet La Brianza offers such variety!
Monday, 1 October
I watch the Traghetto Leonardo for a few long minutes with a puzzled expression. No engine, no fuel, no man-power, yet the ferry designed by Leonardo da Vinci still crosses the river Adda since centuries!
“May I make a return-trip?” I call out to the operator, a man in his early fifties. “Sure,” he replies, as he lets a car off and lets me on. I am the only passenger although it could carry 100 people and five cars. He tugs a rope hanging on a cable crossing the river, an act which begins to twist the ferry around. Soon the ferry is moving slowly but surely across, unaided. I cannot contain myself. “How does it work?”
He calmly walks over and points to the design of the hull. “The flowing river creates pressure which pushes the ferry down-stream, but the ferry is attached to the cable. When the current pushes at an angle of 45 degrees the ferry is forced sideways instead!” Of course... simple!
The man kindly explains how Leonardo spent part of his life living in this area and devised this bit of engineering by studying the Adda itself. However, that was in the 16th Century while the first ferries where built in the 18th Century. So Leonardo himself never saw his creation in action! Actually none of his building projects were actually carried out as he devised them.
Of four, only one ferry remains connecting Imbersago and Villa d'Adda, of the provinces of Lecco and Bergamo respectively. A marble plaque states that Pope Joannes XXIII from Bergamo used this ferry too!
I get a special feeling from this short boat trip on the river Adda, surrounded by the simple yet exquisite countryside of La Brianza – all for less than one Euro! This scenery is said to be the background of Leonardo da Vinci's La Gioconda, the priceless Mona Lisa with her infamous half-smile!
A poster beside the ferry-crossing suggests a number of walks which go either along the Adda or into the hills. I walk to a sanctuary known as Madonna del Bosco, the place where the Holy Mother Mary appeared to three shepherds of Imbersago on 9 May 1617.
Legend tells of a beautiful Lady with a halo of light who appeared by a chestnut tree to three shepherd boys. In a separate episode a young boy was captured by a wolf. The mother made a plea to the Madonna del Bosco whereby she appeared again by a chestnut tree, but this time holding her baby Jesus and flanked by two angels. The wolf immediately let the boy go at her feet.
Pilgrimages led to the first small chapel known as Scurolo being built in 1632, which now lies in the crypt of a larger octagonal sanctuary first inaugurated in 1646 and extended in 1677. When I arrive at the sanctuary, it is full of devotees celebrating mass.
The grounds have been embellished and there is also a bronze statue of the same pope. I locate the eternally flowering rose-bush and spring, synonymous with the apparition of Our Lady and I am granted more breath-taking views of La Brianza.
Thursday, 4 October
I note that Lombardy's people are equally varied – from the young city-man ahead of trends to the conservative Brianzolo who is unwilling to compromise his view of the world. They all continue to add to the rich legacy of Lombardy.
Websites:
About Milan's History: www.storiadimilano.it
Associazione Culturale Kernunnos: www.libreriaprimordia.it/kernunnos.htm
Episode 19 of Melanie Drury's diary is due on 22 October.
www.melaniedrury.com
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