ALLEYS AND PATHS:

A SMALL LABIRINTH

Brienno is a magical place, carved in the rock between water and sky, between lake and mountain.
Stone alleys make Brienno one of the most beautiful villages on Lake Como.
At the heart of its enchantment is a series of narrow streets with ever-changing gradients, the so-called "risciade," dominated by stone bricks, populated with ancient lanterns, arches, underpasses, and steps, punctuated by less illuminated corners that suddenly give way to the blue of the lake.

As you walk, you breathe in an atmosphere of yesteryear, it is easy to see with the eyes of the imagination a past when people lived by fishing and agriculture: it is sweet to get lost in this architecture, in this labyrinth, imagining the life of fishermen of yesteryear on the lake boats, and Larian gondolas and comballi, traveling in a short time through a village that never ceases to fascinate.

In a place where time ceases to make sense, the narrow streets have remained virtually unchanged for hundreds of years, and in traversing the village, they provide the final wonder: the church of Saints Nazaro and Celso overlooking the lake, framed by the stone arches overlooking the pier, composing a perfect postcard view.

Arriving from the water makes the visit even more evocative: by choosing this approach, it is possible to admire Brienno from a perspective that is unusual for many, enhancing its charm: its magnetism has not been affected by the disappearance of the castle that once enclosed the village upstream, when Brienno also represented a military control point for the territory.

Not to be missed is the Christmas season, when the architecture of the town is enhanced when locals decorate every alley and open old rock caverns, temporarily turning them into emporiums for selling local crafts.