Giornale di Brescia –
Tours of the valleys of Brescia, by Franco Solina
www.giornaledibrescia.it

Craggy Outcrops
A round trip around Montisola
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WALK ACROSS FLAT LAND WITH SOME SLIGHT UNDULATIONS
Round Trip: 3-4 hours approximately
I.G.M. Map (Istituto Geografico Militare) (Insert: Iseo) 1:50.000
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A trip around the island of Montisola by foot is well worth jotting down in the rambler's notebook of good walks, and it has the added advantage that it can be done all year round. This island in Lake Iseo re-kindles all the atmosphere of days gone by with its lush countryside speckled with pretty villages, vineyards and olive groves. The island boasts an interesting cultural heritage, but most importantly an atmosphere of sweetness and tranquillity pervades that can be enjoyed by both the discerning and cultured traveller. The circumference of Montisola is approximately 9 kilometres, making Montisola Europe's largest island in a lake and its highest peak stands at 600 m. The old Santuario della Madonna della Ceriola stands on the high and narrow rocky ridge, and can be seen from every peak overlooking the lake. Boats and ferries run daily to the mainland. A ferry service operates between Sulzano and Peschiera Maraglio and Sale Marasino and Carzano. The first ferry leaves at 5am, the last late at night and they run every 15 minutes in both directions. We'll start our journey from Peschiera Maraglio, a traditional fishing village with narrow alleys lined with old fishermen's cottages, gentrified by imposing doors and sandstone friezes.
The village of Peschiera Maraglio, nestling in the far south eastern point of the island, is well known for its artisan workshops that have been a feature of the island since the early 1600s, where boats and fishing nets are still made by hand. This is where the wooden boats and in particular the famous "naecc", from Sebino are made. As we follow the road signs we arrive at Carzano and after a short while we leave the left hand turning for Senzano and Cure. It's a good forty minute walk along the snaking even road flanked by walls of stratified rock before we get to the village of Carzano nestling in the north east of the island, just beyond the harbour.
Just beyond its residential area with its two picturesque little harbours is the church of San Giovanni Battista. A steep hillside lane leads to the hamlet of Novale just above the village. A campsite (follow the signs for Siviano) is just past the north eastern promontory and just beyond that is Paradiso; the little island of Loreto rises above the gray blue pearly waters to the north. Past the wide swerve to the left, the road wends its way along the west towards the village of Siviano, home to the council offices. The Medieval Martinengo tower dominates the village skyline nestling amidst the olive groves and vineyards of its terraced slopes. Its charming little harbour spreads out below and to its side is an elegant 16th century palazzo, which can be reached by the side road that bends to the right, just before reaching the residential area. A short walk will take you to Sinchignano (by this stage we have covered about half the island) and a fork in the road. The uphill road on the left leads to Senzano, but we'll take the downhill road to Menzino.
The village of Sensole is about a kilometre further along the road (it can be reached more quickly by taking the narrow pathway to the right. The 15th century Oldofredi fortress towers above the village set in a leafy bight, sheltered from the icy cold winds of the north; further out, the water laps against the island of San Paolo. A pathway leads us back to onto the main road and we carry on along keeping to the the right. The walk takes us through lakes and olive trees shimmering with their glistening foliage of different shades of green and we are now not far from where we began our tour. If it's still light we recommend a whistle-stop visit to the island's summit at Cure, it can be reached by several paths and tracks on the island. A 20 minute leisurely stroll leads us to the Santuario della Madonna della Ceriola on one of the island's peaks and whose feast day, commemorated by the islanders, and attracting many visitors, falls on the second Sunday of July. The view from here across sweeping, evocative panoramas is well worth meditating over.

 

Craggy outcrops
Crossing Monte Orfano
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WALK ACROSS FLAT LAND WITH GENTLE UNDULATIONS
Round Trip: 3-4 hours
I.G.M. Map (Istituto Geografico Militare) (Insert: Iseo) 1:50.000
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The walk across Mount Orfano is a delight, far from strenuous and suitable for all age groups, so much so you could manage it in both directions. The route is simple to follow and covers fairly flat terrain, the one-way trip takes less than two hours. This walk can be completed at any time of the year, but the scenery during Spring and Autumn is at it best. Viewed from Guglielmo or indeed any other outcrop at the foot of the mountain, Mount Orfano appears somewhat outlandish, resembling a gargantuan prehistoric animal in a recumbent posture sitting on top of the flat plains below the hills. In fact this long and narrow scree lying obliquely along the most southerly point of Franciacorta and about twenty kilometres to the west of the little town of Iseo was formed during one of the last tremors of the alpine mountain range that occurred 20 million years ago.
Its geological structure is made up of a conglomerate rock (puddingstone) which is formed by dark pebbles contrasting with a pale fine-grained matrix. To find out more about the origin of the name "Orfano" we consulted the detailed topographical dictionary published by Gnaga (reprinted in 1981) by the Giornale di Brescia, from the acid etchings of the original. It reads as follows "Orfano, p. 422 - an isolated mountain north-west of Rovato and located between Rovato and Spina di Erbusco. Known now as Monte di Rovato, its original name, Mount Orfano, first appeared in a document dating from 795." The Alpine guide published by the Club Alpino Italiano of Brescia recounts an interesting historical fact: "It is traditionally believed that it was here that Prince Eugenio of Savoy, Field Marshal of the Austrian army, planned the military strategy of the Battle of Chiari 1701 in which he defeated the Duc de Villeroi." As we take the uphill road in Rovato, and complete the final leg of our journey along the cobble stoned and evocative via San Stefano, we arrive at the forecourt of the Convento della SS. Annunziata boasting glorious panoramic views like a balcony that straddles high above the flat farmland, vineyards and olive groves of the sun kissed expanses of the mountain.
A 10 minute walk along the northbound narrow asphalt road that branches off the convent's forecourt, past the old parish church of San Stefano, leads to the large mortuary chapel built as a memorial to the Fallen of Rovato and the nearby refuge of the town's local mountaineering association. A downhill lane leads to a nearby pond and from there we take the unadopted road leading to Coccaglio. A brief walk to Coccaglio takes us to an uphill path to the right, surrounded by a black pine grove that leads to a large wooden crucifix (315 m).
As we walk downhill past the old dairy farm La Genovesina, which has a traditional trattoria, we begin the ascent again with the farm's vineyard to our side and reach the statuette of the Madonnina near the large crucifix at Erbusco erected at a height of 381 m. The walk is far from monotonous with its panoramic views along gently undulating hillocks whilst we keep to the divide ridge dotted here and there with hunting lodges. The views across the fragmented plains are an arrangement of geometric shapes of varying hues created by different crops and mountain village clusters; Rovato and Coccaglio in the far south east, Cologne on the western promontory and Erbusco on the east, nestling on the gentle morainic hills of Sebino.
The gently undulating pathway finally settles amidst black pine forest, leading to a smooth uphill asphalt road that quickly cuts through Cologne; past dozens of barns, we turn into the downhill road on the left, walking along the carriageway for about 150 m and then take the right-hand path leading to the crucifix at Cologne. Just beyond the crucifix is a RAI transmitter signaling that we have reached Mount Orfano's highest peak, standing at 452 m. Here we begin our descent along a path leading to a stretch of flat land along a little road that takes us in no time at all to the crucifix at Zocco to the north west of Mount Orfano, where we finish our walk; from that height our view embraces a wide expanse of the pre alps and a glimpse of Lake Iseo framed by the mountain vista of the crag Guglielmo. The road adjacent to the RAI transmitter forks into two paths, one leading to the chapel, the other to an alpine refuge at Cologne.