Description
Il territorio
VAL D’ARIGNA
Valtellina, a valley lying within the boundaries of the county of Sondrio (Region of Lombardia, northern Italy) is known in the world mostly for its tourist attractions related to districts of small Alpine villages located throughout the county of Sondrio, such as Livigno, Bormio , Santa Caterina, Aprica, Madesimo and Chiesa in Valmalenco (to name a few), and is candidate to be included in the World Heritage List of UNESCO.
The valley is crossed from east to west by the river Adda, separating Engadine Alps from the Orobic Alps, and is the natural transit route to access the whole "Tellino" area. The two main mountain ranges are the made of several side valleys in contact with each other, with its own history, its own shape, its own reason to be.
Among these valleys we focus on Val d'Arigna, perhaps one of the least known of them, which encloses the above features plus many other even more significant. Within the municipality of Ponte in Valtellina (about 10 km from Sondrio), Val d'Arigna is quite the opposite of what the most famous tourist centers mentioned earlier in this article represent, and it keeps intact all its own "truthfulness", boasting many unspoilt places and elements.
The first people moved here in the late 1500s, as evidenced by the age of the most ancient church of St. Matthew, built right where the small village of Arigna was originally settled. Other buildings of historical and cultural interest are worth a visit if you find yourself going through the 9 districts currently inhabited.
The main activity at that time was cattle breeding and extraction of iron, in fact, in the upper valley, you can still see the ovens and the pastures. Over the years, and we are already in 1900, the construction of hydroelectric power plants, with the exploitation of the waters, has enabled the industrialization of the area, albeit in a not quite invasive way.
An intricate system of penstocks (some visible, others concealed), and the construction of a hydroelectric plant, led to the exploitation of the water coming from the melting of many glaciers (including the one located at the lowest altitude in Lombardy, the Glacier Marovin), and from the docks, recognizable on each map.
It 's nice to come here and discover crafts and traditions carried out over the years by the people. Those born here had certainly to have good legs and enough breath, given that the work required great efforts from the early years, when it was necessary to go up and down from the mountain pastures to earn a living.
Today, those tasks are no longer necessary, but it is a choice made out of passion for sports. There are four huts to be visited by trekking, ski mountaineering and snowshoeing lovers, as well as countless paths at high altitude, but also further downstream, for every type of hiker.
The valley is crossed from east to west by the river Adda, separating Engadine Alps from the Orobic Alps, and is the natural transit route to access the whole "Tellino" area. The two main mountain ranges are the made of several side valleys in contact with each other, with its own history, its own shape, its own reason to be.
Among these valleys we focus on Val d'Arigna, perhaps one of the least known of them, which encloses the above features plus many other even more significant. Within the municipality of Ponte in Valtellina (about 10 km from Sondrio), Val d'Arigna is quite the opposite of what the most famous tourist centers mentioned earlier in this article represent, and it keeps intact all its own "truthfulness", boasting many unspoilt places and elements.
The first people moved here in the late 1500s, as evidenced by the age of the most ancient church of St. Matthew, built right where the small village of Arigna was originally settled. Other buildings of historical and cultural interest are worth a visit if you find yourself going through the 9 districts currently inhabited.
The main activity at that time was cattle breeding and extraction of iron, in fact, in the upper valley, you can still see the ovens and the pastures. Over the years, and we are already in 1900, the construction of hydroelectric power plants, with the exploitation of the waters, has enabled the industrialization of the area, albeit in a not quite invasive way.
An intricate system of penstocks (some visible, others concealed), and the construction of a hydroelectric plant, led to the exploitation of the water coming from the melting of many glaciers (including the one located at the lowest altitude in Lombardy, the Glacier Marovin), and from the docks, recognizable on each map.
It 's nice to come here and discover crafts and traditions carried out over the years by the people. Those born here had certainly to have good legs and enough breath, given that the work required great efforts from the early years, when it was necessary to go up and down from the mountain pastures to earn a living.
Today, those tasks are no longer necessary, but it is a choice made out of passion for sports. There are four huts to be visited by trekking, ski mountaineering and snowshoeing lovers, as well as countless paths at high altitude, but also further downstream, for every type of hiker.
Hiking in the mountains is very popular, but there are also many routes for mountain bikers, since the area is very well suited to this type of activity, with numerous popular trails, especially in summer. The area is well covered with good facilities that allow tourists to be able to carefully plan their holiday and to fully enjoy the beautiful landscapes that this land gives us.