Monteviasco: magical village in the greenery of Curiglia

The Piero Mills are regarded as a vantage point of Italy, but they are more than just that. These structures, located in the locality of Piero near Mount Lema, bear witness to the mountain life that was typical of numerous families in the days of rural Italy. The Piero Mills were built with local rock and wood, and today's inhabitants are committed to preserving and protecting the ancient buildings. In addition, typical products such as cheese and milk are produced on site. The landscape is shrouded by woods and paths leading toward Bieglio, Canigli and Monterecchio: realities lost in the green.

In this place, tradition, nature, art and culture come together to give the visitor a unique experience in the mountain landscape.

The Monteviasco Cable Car, also known as the Ponte di Piero-Monteviasco Cable Car, connects Ponte di Piero and Monteviasco. It is a bifunctional ''come and go'' type cableway. The cable car was opened in 1989 and is characterized by a speed of 4.3 m/s. The capacity of the cabins is 15 standing passengers. During the ride it is possible to admire the surrounding landscape and take extraordinary souvenir photos. The route includes a valley station (Ponte di Piero, at 543 m a.s.l.) and an upstream station (Monteviasco, at 943 m a.s.l.). The total walking time is about 5 minutes.

The Monteviasco staircase is one of the main attractions near Curiglia. 1200 is the number of steps that one has to face when one wants to take a walk in the green near Val Veddasca. Organizing a walk on the staircase, surrounded by nature, is one of the most experienced activities for sportsmen to reach the heart of Monteviasco. Through the path, to reach the top, the visitor will be involved not only by the view of a spectacular mountainous landscape but also by sounds and scents of nature that will completely invade the route. Nature and sport come together to provide a magical experience.

Visitors will have the opportunity to stay a few days in Monteviasco due to the presence of a number of accommodations and trattorias on site.

Monteviasco hosts several restaurants where it is possible to have meals and dinners surrounded by nature. In addition, there are some Bed & Breakfasts where it is possible to spend one or more nights. The accommodations, restaurants and their furnishings feature stone, wood or copper motifs typical of the mountainous location.

To date, although there are few activities dedicated to catering left, Monteviasco is characterized as a place to experience the typical cuisine and daily life of the place.

Monteviasco is a small hamlet in the municipality of Curiglia in the province of Varese in the vicinity of Lake Maggiore, Lombardy. It is a hamlet located on the western slope of Mount Polà in the Veddasca valley. Reaching Monteviasco is possible:

- BY CAR: from the Autostrada dei Laghi highway, leave your car in the parking lot at the end of the road that descends from Curiglia(VA) and reaches the hamlet of Piero from where the cable car departs.
- BY BUS: via the Autolinee Varesine line No. 01 Luino-Poppino-Dumenza-Agra-Curiglia with stop Curiglia con Monteviasco - Town Hall.
- BY FERRY: via the Navigazione Laghi service with a stop in Luino (VA).
- BY PLANE: from Milan Malpensa and then to the province of Varese.
- BY HELICOPTER: north of Luino (VA)

Nature and sports lovers are used to organize walks and bike rides to have an unforgettable experience in the beautiful mountainous environment.

The locality in question is a village perched on the mountains and for this reason does not have a carriage road. Monteviasco can therefore be reached, exclusively, on foot and via the cable car service that leaves from the hamlet of Piero.

The history of Monteviasco is linked to a legend that has several variations. The most accredited version tells of four brigands or four soldiers from Milan who took refuge in these mountains under Spanish rule to escape the authorities, carried out looting and kidnapped women from nearby Biegno. According to the legend, the surnames of the four (Morandi, Cassina, Dellea and Ranzoni) are the four most common surnames in the area.

Historically, however, one must rely on objective traces such as archaeological finds dating back to the Bronze Age. In prehistoric times the area was inhabited as evidenced by some rock graffiti that can be traced locally.

In addition, the valley was an easy way to reach the upper part of Lake Maggiore. In this regard, you can still see and walk the Pont de là: a Roman bridge that allows you to cross the Italian side of the Giona stream.

In the 12th century, the very first written records appear that deal with issues related to territorial legal matters dealing with borders, concessions and disputes of various kinds. The inhabitants of Monteviasco needed a well-defined mountain territorial organization to manage grazing and different tasks in the area. In spite of this, there was no lack of misunderstandings, as in the case of the year 1185 when there were disputes over illegal logging. There were territorial, stealth and criminal disputes especially with the now Swiss municipalities of Breno and Vezio. It was incumbent, through congresses and laws, to define the boundaries between the Swiss and the various Milanese state areas. These diatribes continued until after the 18th century when laws were instituted that abolished shared property among the communes. During the Middle Ages, the Church had control of the entire Monteviasco area.

In 1190 Val Veddasca was enfeoffed to the Castiglioni family, feudal lords of various localities in Brianza and Val d'Olona. In 1200 the consortium of villages on the left slope was called Valle del Consiglio Maggiore and owned Monteviasco, Curiglia, Agra, Due Cossani, Runo, Stivigliano, Dumenza and Colmegna. We have no record of when the right side of Veddasca also passed to the parish of Valtravaglia. We do recall a parchment dated November 20, 1418, which states, ''Veddasca, pieve of Valtravaglia''.

In 1512 the Swiss occupied Luinese and held it until 1526. Later, in 1596 the region was permanently connected to Valtravaglia. Also important was 1590, the year in which the fief of the Four Valleys was established, of which Monteviasco was part with other surrounding territories.

Monteviasco was a village of 286 inhabitants during 1751, and after a few years it was part of the ephemeral province of Varese of Austrian Lombardy for 5 years. In 1796, Napoleon suppressed the fiefdoms, and from this time on, the communities in the area began to live their own administrative life.

When Napoleon's Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed in 1805, the village was reported to have a population of 464. In 1809, the municipality was suppressed by a royal decree of Napoleon, who first annexed it to Curiglia, but the municipality of Monteviasco was later restored with the return of Austrian rule. Between 1853 and 1871, the process of population decline began: linked to the abandonment of mountain territories that continued until 1921.

The fascist regime, in 1928, decided to suppress the municipality of Monteviasco by merging it permanently with Curiglia and thus re-proposing the old Napoleonic model.

Between the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the year two thousand, Monteviasco was hit by a sharp decline in the number of inhabitants. In the fall of 2018 the residents, mostly elderly, were simply fifteen.

As of today, Monteviasco is a tourist resort surrounded by nature where you can experience an extraordinary experience.