Dorio between Lake Como, mountain paths and history

Dorio combines a townscape between lake and mountain with historic churches, traces of ancient settlement and the Sentiero del Viandante. If you would like to combine culture and landscapes, you will encounter stone houses, narrow paths, wooded climbs and views over Lake Como here.

Stone lanes and a layered history

Dorio preserves stone houses grouped around the church, as well as narrow lanes between lake and mountain. In Mandonìco (Mondonico), Dorio’s most important settlement was located in the Middle Ages. Rustic houses are arranged there along the path and on the grassy terraces of the terrain. The extensive terraces on the Lecco shore of Lake Como also tell of earlier use: olives, grapevines and laurel were once cultivated here.

Churches along the historic path

The medieval Pieve di San Giorgio in Mandonico features a fresco cycle dating from 1492. Around 1300, a chapel dedicated to Saint George was probably built in Mandonico. The Church of San Giorgio, formerly Dorio’s parish church, already existed in 1412. The Sentiero del Viandante runs alongside San Giorgio. In 1653, the Campanile di San Giorgio replaced the original Romanesque bell tower and was restored in 1978. The isolated Church of Madonna Regina dei Monti stands on Monte Sparesèe in the municipality of Dorio. It was built so that mountain farmers could celebrate religious feast days there without having to return to Dorio’s distant parish church each time.

The Sentiero del Viandante

The Sentiero del Viandante can be completed by sufficiently fit hikers in three or four days. The trail section climbs through a chestnut forest to the Chapel of San Rocco. The frescoed Oratory of San Rocco was built in 1858 along the Sentiero del Viandante towards Colico. In this way, the hike connects a succession of historic sites whose location along the route helps shape the character of this stretch.

Heights, forest and lake views

After San Rocco, a section with steps reaches a viewpoint on the mountain ridge. This separates the coast of Dorio from the coast overlooking Laghetto di Piona. The Chapel of San Rocco lies at 487 metres and heralds the Ronchi di Vesgallo at 555 metres. Near the Sentiero del Viandante, the landscape consists of rock shaped by the Quaternary, chestnut trees, birches and the first beech trees. The churchyard of San Giorgio offers a view over the lake and the houses of Dorio farther below. From the Campanile di San Giorgio, the view also extends to the Grigne and the Rhaetian Alps, which frame the lake.

Another trace of the past

In Località Comballo, cup-marked stones are considered traces of religious rites. Together with the churches, terraces and old paths, they form a destination where nature and the area’s traditional history stand closely side by side.

More destinations

As an addition to your travel planning, you can also discover Cernusco Lombardone, Oliveto Lario, Missaglia, Annone Di Brianza, Calolziocorte, Abbadia Lariana, Casatenovo and Cremella as well.

For the main travel overview: Lecco.