VALTELLINA VALLEY AND VINEYARDS

Valtellina largely coincides with the Province of Sondrio; it is very rich in traditions and culture and it is an entirely alpine heterogeneous world, made up of glaciers as well as vineyards; the latter are a real work of art based on a careful engineering of the territory, which gives life to "heroic wines".

A difference in height of 3800 meters and a variety of landscapes separate the Fuentes crossroads from Punta Parrocchetti, the two ends of this long natural "corridor" between north Italy and the continental Europe. And if the first source of fascination, the first emotional impact is in the nature, the beauty of Valtellina is also in its villages which, all generated by Alpine culture, have their own defined identity, urban microcosms rich in history and art as well as in material culture.
It starts from Bormio, known for its ski area and for the attractions of the nearby Stelvio National Park: it can boast an enchanting historic center, worthy of a village that was able to convert the proceeds of its trade into political independence and impose transit duties. Continuing towards the valley, we find Grosio, an ancient rural village surrounded by mountain pastures; its Rock Engravings Park, dominated by the remains of the medieval Castel Vecchio or San Faustino and Castel Nuovo, is one of the most important evidence of prehistoric settlements in Valtellina.

When you will reach Tirano you will find its Marian Church, built in the early sixteenth century following a miraculous apparition of the Virgin. Tirano is the crossroads of the Alps, a UNESCO World Heritage Site as the starting point of the spectacular Bernina Red Train, a crossroads of culture between Italy and Switzerland. We can now reach the ideal border line between the upper and middle valleys where Teglio is strategically located, with a good number of noble residences; among these stands Palazzo Besta, as imposing as it is harmonious Renaissance villa in which the spirit of Humanism is still alive.

By following the course of the Adda you will reach Ponte in Valtellina, one of the most characteristic rural villages in the middle valley. The town, with its narrow streets still paved with river pebbles, the lunette of the main portal of which is the work of Bernardino Luini, one of the greatest masters of the Lombard Renaissance, tightens around the church of San Maurizio.

By walking for a few kilometers you reach Sondrio, the most important urban reality with the role of fulcrum rather than guide, which reflects its administrative centrality in the territory and whose historic center is compactly arranged under Castel Masegra, now home to the Castello museum of mountain Stories, CAST. Sondrio is surrounded today as centuries ago by the important vineyard area of Sassella and Grumello, two of the five production areas of D.O.C.G. of Valtellina.

Continuing on west, you reach Morbegno, a center with an ancient commercial tradition that found its fortune with the opening of Strada Priula, the "salt road" that connected the Grisons to Venice. The culture of exchange is here translated into a marked vitality in the artistic field. Beyond Morbegno, just before the Adda flows into Lake Como, the Valchiavenna joins the Valtellina.

Chiavenna is the most inhabited village, the key to the Alps, which due to its strategic position was disputed and subject to invasions. Its historic center maintains an integral Renaissance look and the atmosphere of a "small ancient village" between arcades and soapstone fountains. Not far away, in Prosto di Piuro, is the sixteenth-century country residence of the Vertemates, a noble merchant family; Palazzo Vertemate is one of the most fascinating and prestigious Lombard Renaissance residences.