Index of Article
What to see in Lombardy
What to see in Lombardy if you have a week available? Here is an itinerary that, starting from the art cities of Pianura Padana, reaches the mountains of Valtellina, passing through Lake Como. Cremona, Mantua, Monza, Como, Lecco and Morbegno are the stages of a journey between art, culture, nature, gastronomy, traditions and unique experiences that I personally tried during an engaging blogtour in collaboration with Explora inLombardy.
Cremona
Our journey begins in Cremona, of which we immediately visit the square of the Municipality, on which the most representative political and religious buildings stand out, of which I have already told you here after my recent visit on the Feast of Torrone.
If Cremona is the city of turkey for music lovers, instead, it is above all the city of violin. The excellence of traditional luthier know-how in Cremona, made great by the cremonese luthiers such as Amati, Guarneri and Stradivari, and recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2012, is celebrated in the Violin Museum, to be visited if you want to know everything, but just all about violets, violins, cellos and so on.
A truly fascinating path, through the history and diffusion of string instruments in the world, but which also explains how and why the classical cremonese luteria has developed, who were and in what context the great luthiers of the past and why Stradivari tools are famous in the world.
You can admire the permanent collection of arches of the museum and then enter the Scrigno dei Tesori, the Sancta Sanctorum, where are preserved some of the most precious violins of the world, including the famous Cremonese of Stradivari, symbol of the city, worth 12 million euros.
At this point you will certainly want to know how to build a violin, what are the techniques and phases of assembling a tool, in short, to see a real violinmaker at work. Nothing easier in Cremona, where there are seventy shops that represent, precisely, this priceless intangible heritage, some of which open their doors by reservation to visitors.
We entered that of Stefano Conia, son and niece of art with the knowledge to make liuthier practically enrolled in DNA. A place out of time, which smells like wood, resins and lots of passion, without which real masterpieces are not realized.
By touching us with hands wood and irons of the trade, Stefano explained to us step by step the numerous steps, strictly handmade, that in about two months of work transform simple pieces of wood into noble musical instruments required worldwide.
Mantua
From one World Heritage to another. Leaving Cremona, we reached Mantua, where we went to discover the architectural and cultural heritage left by the Gonzaga, for which, together with Sabbioneta, was declared a World Heritage Site of Humanity. Leon Battista Alberti, Giulio Romano and Andrea Mantegna are the great artifices of the Renaissance of Mantua by the will of the Gonzaga, whose works are scattered around the city.
Dell’Alberti we admired the majestic fifteenth-century basilica of Sant’Andrea, inside which there are some frescoes on drawing by Giulio Romano. Of this artist, of which a great exhibition is currently underway in the city, there are also the five hundredth-century Pescherie, once used for fish trade and currently in recovery. 
The master hand of Mantegna is found among the rooms of the Doge’s Palace, a huge complex among the most extensive in Europe of buildings, galleries, squares, courtyards and gardens that was the official residence of the Gonzaga.
Following this labyrinth of halls and halls we have finally reached the most precious room of all: the Camera degli Sposi, one of the absolute jewels of the Lombard Renaissance, masterpiece by Andrea Mantegna, who made it between 1465 and 1474 on commission of Ludovico II Gonzaga. The room served both as a private room of the prince, and as a representative environment to welcome powerful and ambassadors, who remained ecstatic before such magnificence.
The Bibiena Scientific Theatre was built by Empress Maria Teresa of Austria, a real architectural jewel with a rare bell-shaped plant and four orders of stakes. About a month after the inauguration at the end of 1769, he received a concert by the young Amadeus Mozart on his first tour abroad accompanied by his father, who wrote that he had never seen such a beautiful theatre.
Monza
Monza is a city rich in history and culture, famous for the Villa Reale, but especially for the Autodromo, one of the most important in the world, which I had the opportunity to visit by participating in one of the guided tours that open the doors of the most exclusive places of the Circuit of Monza.
Passing through the stands, you enter the largest press room I have ever seen, which can accommodate up to 500 journalists. Adjacent is the Briefing Hall, where the team briefs are made before the race and the press conference of the first three arrived after the race; just beyond is the Race Direction Hall, a sort of direction center, which is the true heart of the race. What about the podium? Of course you can also see that, and wanting you can also climb the highest step, emulating the biggest champions of the world of F1!
But the most exciting moment, useless to say, was to ride the legendary track on a minivan (but it is possible to do it also by bicycle, or with a sports car led by a professional driver). Without a doubt one of the most memorable experiences of this tour in Lombardy.
We also made a tour around the historic centre of Monza, which still retains the vestige of the millenary tradition of Lombardy, such as the Cathedral built by Queen Teodolinda, the Arena and the former house of the Umiliati, today the seat of the Civic Museums that often host interesting exhibitions.
The one in progress in this period is In line with Leonardo: an exhibition that pays homage to the Tuscan genius, of which the 500th anniversary of death is celebrated, with nineteenth century prints and works of the so-called Leonardeschi artists, that is students or imitators of his art.
Como
The next stage, Como, welcomed us with the charm of Como City of the Balocchi, the Christmas event that includes markets in the squares, the Santa Claus cabin, the exhibition of cribs from the world, concerts, events and especially the lights of the Magic Light Festival.
Much more than simple luminaries, are fantastic bright animations projected on palaces and monuments of the historic center that create a ghostly glistening spectacle that has its hub in the Cathedral and adjacent squares.
Como It is synonymous with silk and therefore could not miss a visit to the Silk Museum, which collects objects, machinery and work tools that tell the story and evolution of the production of the precious fabric in the city, in addition to the stories of men, that is, entrepreneurs and industrial, that were the artifacts.
One of these is Davide Bernasconi, founder of the historical seric weavings that bear his name, of which we visit the villa in Cernobbio. Known as the "house that speaks", it is a building of refined Art Nouveau taste, transformed into a museum with many stories to tell.
The visit thus becomes a multisensory experience, during which you are free to sew in the drawers, listen to the stories of those who lived in the villa or worked in the series, tiles with an ancient frame or try the "touch of silk", a relaxing aesthetic treatment.
Lecco
From Como, we then moved to the other branch of Lake Como, the Manzonian one par excellence, which has in Lecco its most important center. It is here that he spent his childhood and adolescence Alessandro Manzoni, and it is always here that he then set I Promessi Sposi, between the lake and the beautiful mountains, for which Lecco was awarded the title of Alpina City.
An indissoluble bond, that between Lecco and its mountains, which from the peaks of the house brought the climbers from Lucca to the conquest of some of the most famous peaks of the world. An epoeia told in the Lecchese Alpine Observatory, which celebrates the mountain and the history of Lecchesi mountaineering. An interactive exhibition that reconstructs the events of local mountaineering, of the great expeditions on the mountains of the world, through footage and equipment of yesterday and today.
The visit of the Observatory introduces us naturally to the last stage of our tour: the Valtellina, which we reach after a stop in Bellano to visit the famous Orrido, among the most famous tourist resorts of the Lario.
It is a deep gorge dug over the centuries by the impetuous force of the Pioverna river: a walkway allows you to walk through the initial part, flanked by steep rocky walls covered with vegetation, accompanied by the filling of the water, a natural environment of great suggestion, enhanced by the presence of the Cà del Diavol, that the popular belief is a place of mysteries.
Valtellina
And here we are finally in Morbegno, the most important municipality of the lower Valtellina, where we discover architectural treasures like the church of San Giovanni with beautiful stone facade and Malacrida palace, which conceals a wonderfully frescoed hall with trompe l’oeil, recently restored.
The village has developed around the ancient bridge of San Giovanni Nepomuceno on the Bitto stream, which gives its name to the delicious DOP cheese for sale in the food shops of the village and in some farms nearby.
Like La Fiorida di Mantello, a high-level farm, with restaurant, spa, farm, slaughterhouse, dairy and shop where to stock all the typical products of Valtellinesi, from Bitto cheeses and Casera to slinzega, from bresaola to Bisciola cake, and then honeys, jams, cured meats, sweets, liqueurs, without forgetting the DOC wines of the Valley such as Valtellina Superiore and Sforza
In short, a unique reality in the Italian landscape, which also offers a rich program of educational activities: you can visit the stables, follow the processes of processing of the dairy or, as we have done, participate in a workshop to learn how to make butter and cheese.
On the opposite side of the valley compared to Morbegno extends the Coast of Cèch, covered with terraces cultivated with vines and dotted with pretty rural villages. The main is Traona, dominated by the beautiful church of Sant’Alessandro, naïlitated by a portico overlooking the valley, which is worth visiting to admire the amazing panorama that stretches over the lower Valtellina.
Going up the course of Bitto, instead, you will go through the Valgerola, part of the Regional Park of Orobie Valtellinesi, scattered with small Alpine villages that preserve ancient traditions and pastures dedicated to the production of Bitto.
In the centuries-old woods there are countless hiking itineraries and the slopes of the small ski resort of Pescegallo, which we reached from the village of Fenile with a relaxing snowshoe along the Health Trail, a path of about two and a half kilometers to the reach of all.
Snowing through the dense conifer made fairytale by the snowfall of the day before, surrounded by the mountains that look beyond the peaks of the fir trees, was a fantastic experience, which made us find contact with nature.
