ESINO LARIO – pretty mountain valley town above Lake Como

ESINO LARIO is 913 meters above Lake Como in the Valsassina and about 2.7 miles from the shore as the crow flies. It is also an 8 mile drive from the nearest train station and – with the very few buses that visit the village each day – without a car one needs to be prepared for isolation. It is a pretty town though merged from two ancient villages – Esino Lario Superiore and Esino Lario Inferiore.

Although I am no expert, my feeling from my walk through both upper and lower Esino was that the upper village is older. And given that the 12^th-century Castello is just a few meters above the town I think that my ‘feeling’ might be correct. All that is left of the Castello di Esino is the tower – but it is a very large and grand tower and with only scant imagination one can guess at the castle’s former size and splendor.

One reaches Esino Lario by SP65 – Strada Provinciale 65. Signs champion the road as a scenic route and along the way Italy has ingeniously carved out spaces to stop and view the lake and surrounding Alps. But overall, the ‘scenic’ aspect of the ‘route’ is well-hidden by the summer foliage and the possibility of crashing one’s car on the narrow road as one looks for a view of the lake and valley. With many tornante’s (more than 20!) and a very steep climb the drive increases one’s anticipation for the charm and historicity of a village so far from the flatlands as to imply successful escapes from past plagues and bandits.

The air is clean and clear in Esino and the breezes cool but for a view one has to climb – and climb – and climb! Like nearby Tremenico, the lake is not easily visible. Rather, one has wonderful views of the rolling hills and mountain peaks of the Valsassina. Although one might think that not being able to be seen from the lakeshore would have kept the village safe from invaders – it did not.  Esino Lario suffered intermittent domination throughout its history.

The ‘storia’ of Esino Lario is truly ancient and – after the glaciers killed the dinosaurs, moved the mountains, and deposited marine fossils in the limestone of the hills – the tale of Esino harkens to the Celts and the Romans. The 12^th-century Torre Esino built on the Alto Lario remains of the Western Roman Empire is Roman and the earth of the Valsassina offers memories of the conquered shepherd-warrior Celts recalled in the artifacts found here in their tombs.

Lying in the palm of the Val d’Esino – cupped by the fingers of the Alpine peaks – Esino was the site for Larion communications and commerce. Fires were lit atop the torre of Castello Esino to both warn of invasion and herald trade. The economy of the town was restricted and it lay mainly in what was taken from the hills rather than grown there. Thus, the surrounding forests were ravaged to make the charcoal needed for the production of iron – necessary metal for the utensils of life and death in the valleys.

Life persisted – prosperity remained and its benefits meant that the people suffered plundering and domination from ‘stranieri’ – trespassers who sought all that the position of the town guaranteed in location, climate, and the natural resources fruited by the labor of the peasants.

Today the only ‘stranieri’ in Esino Lario are scholars and tourists – the former come to study the artifacts and fossils of the Grigne – the latter to enjoy all that life in the lands surrounding Lago di Como has to offer.

Life persists and prosperity remains. Arboriculture persists – albeit with different goals – and – innovatively – food production has been adapted  to the soils and terrain. Here is grown the biancona – the Esino white potato – crucial food product of the rocky landscape created 100 years ago by Padre Giovanni Battista Rocca – the parish priest. With intellect driven by need and love he brought the people sustenance in a landscape not suited to the crops of traditional agriculture.

Because charcoal production no longer needs rob the landscape of trees to burn – stealing forever from the people the beauties and goods of their wood – Esino cultivates its forests of beech (faggio) and hornbeam (carpino) for the commonweal.  The woodlands are owned by the comune but shared by the residents who use them by hereditary right. Beech provides fuel for the ‘stufe a legno’ that warm the kitchens of the locals. Beech aids in the production of Lombardian beers offering a floor on which the yeast can grow and – burned – provides flavor for the malt. Hornbeam figures walk the squares of chessboards. Also called ‘ironwood’ – hornbeam provides planks for durable floors, and its wood ensures the integrity of tool handles, the longevity of piano actions, and reliability for the gears of traditional rotating machinery.

I had a wonderful day in Esino Lario. With plenty of free parking, open bars, and public toilets a long day here was a simple pleasure. The two historical centers offered me many streets to explore for Wall Madonna’s and the old wooden doors that I love.

What is now new but was once the ancient road through lower and upper Esino could still be identified by the shrines and fountains that were placed along it to quench the thirst of soul and body. When I was sure I had walked by every façade and traversed all available paths – for feet and cars – I endeavored to end my day with a visit to the ancient Torre Esino. 

There is only one sign in town pointing the way to the remains of the Castello di Esino. Once past that sign the street – like all the streets in these old towns – multiplies – offering one a choice of directions all of which lead up in some curvaceous fashion with clear views obscured by the crush of old stone houses melded to the slopes and each other. But I managed to find the back of Esino Superiore by simply walking up until there were no more houses.

At the top – a cima – I was then faced with three paths – all promising a heart pounding climb. But fortune smiled on me and I saw an old farmer and inquired which road led to the torre. He was very helpful – pointed to the road, told me to go right at the ‘corte’ and walk the sentiero. When he said ‘sentiero’ my desire to find the ancient castle drained straight out of the bottom of my old feet. Seeing what must have been a look of ‘Oh my God!!’ on my face, the signore quickly said ‘vicino – vicino’.

I have heard this word before from locals – mostly senior citizens – whose lungs are like organ bellows and whose legs are made of iron from walking and working in these mountains. So I was not quick to trust how ‘nearby’ his impassioned ‘vicino’ actually was. Two years ago another old man told me that the fabulously frescoed,14^th-century Chiesa di San Giorgio was a 10-minute walk from the center of Talamona. Ninety uphill- minutes later I stepped into the courtyard of the LOCKED church in the mountains high above the town – no frescoes – no ten-minute walk – and the beginnings of a growing skepticism for locals’ estimates of time and distance!

But I was there and seeing the tower was my desire so I trusted the ‘vicino’ and walked the path. My new friend’s directions were true! A brief, steep walk on a very acceptable old mulatierra led to a meadow still scarred with what must have been the foundational boundaries of the castle. The view of Esino was worth the climb and I was happy to stand so near the remains of an era – the art of which I search for and really love!

I hope you enjoyed these few photos of the Wall Madonna’s of Esino Lario and some of the views of the town. If you have time – it is fun to work one’s way to the Torre Esino beginning with a visit to Varenna and to the gardens of the 12th-century Cistercian convent – the Villa Monastero found there.

Then one can either drive, or park and enjoy a walk up the hill to the remains of the Castello di Vezio where Queen Teodolinda passed her summers. Here one will find an open-air art gallery, an olive grove belonging to the castle, a falconry, an ancient church with fabulous frescoes, a lovely restaurant, and a craft shop that sells original jewelry and other items made by local artists. The castle features sculpted ‘ghosts’ who laze around the grounds and castle walls and one can climb to the top of the restored Torre Vezio for fabulous views of Varenna, the surrounding towns, and Lake Como.

And with a journey on to the tiny nucleus of Perledo one will find a fabulous eroded Annunciation that has only the remains of the heralding Archangel holding a lily.

The remaining drive to Esino Lario along SP65 made long by the necessities of the 900 meter climb will not be regretted.