Sondrio - Ponchiera - Poggiridenti - Montagna in Valtellina

ITINERARY PROFILE

Length: 19 km

Max elevation gain: + 254 m

WHAT TO SEE ALONG THE ROUTE

CASTEL MASEGRA

The castle overlooking Sondrio is the only medieval military structure in Sondrio that has remained intact and active to this day. Today, the building houses CAST, the Castle of Mountain Stories. The museum aims to tell the story of the mountains, allowing the public to approach it through a modern and experiential narration with technological support as well. The main themes developed in the museum are encompassed in three A's: Climbing, Mountaineering, and EnvironmentCASTEL GRUMELLOFAI Property, the medieval Castello de Piro al Grumello dominates a terraced rocky hill (“grumo”) in a strategic sunlit position just a few kilometers from Sondrio. It is a rare example of a twin castle, consisting of two distinct bodies (a military one to the east and a residential one to the west) surrounded by walls. Built between the late 13th and early 14th centuries by the Ghibelline Corrado de Piro, it was dismantled, like most fortified structures, in the 1520s by the Grisons.

CHURCH OF SAN GIORGIO IN MONTAGNA IN VALTELLINA 

The San Giorgio complex, around which the historic center of Montagna in Valtellina revolves, is made up of religious buildings from different periods. The Church of San Giorgio, from the 15th century, features a gable façade and frescoes from the 15th-16th century on the sides of the portal, the lunette above, and the nave walls. Behind it stands the oratory of the Madonna del Carmine (15th century), with a Greek cross plan and covered by ribbed vaults. Important is the Renaissance cycle of frescoes by Sigismondo de Magistris (1515) in the presbytery. From an inner courtyard, you access the 17th-century&nbs;oratory of the Annunciation, beneath which lies an ossuary that overlooked the cemetery through a fine serliana, where the church of the Blessed Virgin of Sorrows was built in the mid-18th century, featuring a Baroque façade and a beautiful 18th-century painting inside.

CHURCH OF SAN FEDELE IN POGGIRIDENTI 

The building features a façade characterized by an unusual porch protecting a small staircase; also notable are the Romanesque bell tower modernized in Baroque style and the 17th-century main portal architrave, on which the coat of arms of the Nobili family, a prominent local family, is carved with some interesting bas-reliefs. Inside, the church is divided into three bays with four side chapels and preserves valuable 18th-century artworks. Facing its square is a structure composed of three buildings from different eras, reworked and connected together, including a 16th-century chapel conserving a large fresco by Fermo Stella (1528) depicting the Madonna enthroned with Child and Saints.

BOSCO DEI BORDIGHI

The Bosco dei Bordighi nature reserve, covering 47 hectares among the municipalities of Albosaggia, Faedo, and Montagna in Valtellina, is one of the very few remaining riparian forests, on the alluvial plain of the Adda River, rich in faunal and arboreal diversity.

WINE TASTINGS IN CELLARS

Along the itinerary and/or in the immediate vicinity, there are some wineries where you can discover and taste the characteristic wines of Valtellina (reservation recommended):

Giorgio Gianatti winery (near the itinerary, Montagna in Valtellina area)

Marsetti winery (Scarpatetti area, near the itinerary)

Arpepe (near the itinerary, Sondrio area)

Visit the website of the Valtellina Wine and Flavors Road and book your cellar experience

BIKE RENTAL POINTS 

CICLISPORT via Stazione 21, Poggiridenti | tel 0342 564231    

VALTELBIKE Albosaggia | tel. 393 8220777

DUE RUOTE piazza Carbonera 2, Sondrio | tel. 0342 515213