Orrido di Bellano

A gorge carved by water in the heart of Lombardy

The Orrido di Bellano is a natural gorge created by the erosion of the Pioverna stream, as consistently reported by comozero.it, magazine.navigazionelaghi.it, sportoutdoor24.it and travel.thewom.it. The site can now be visited thanks to a system of walkways anchored to the walls overhanging the water, according to the same four outlets. Comozero.it also notes that the walkways may have recently been extended up to the large waterfall further upstream, a detail not confirmed by other sources.

Accounts differ on when the gorge was formed: comozero.it and travel.thewom.it date it to around 15 million years ago, while sportoutdoor24.it contradicts this dating. The role of glaciers is also disputed: according to comozero.it and magazine.navigazionelaghi.it, the gorge was also shaped by the action of the Adda Glacier, a claim however denied by travel.thewom.it.

Accounts from travelers and writers

Over the centuries, the Orrido has captured the imagination of several notable visitors. Johann Jakob Wetzel described it as "a theater of beauty and terror", according to comozero.it, magazine.navigazionelaghi.it and travel.thewom.it. Sigismondo Boldoni instead called it "The Horror of a horrendous horridness", a phrase repeated by the same three outlets. Stendhal too, according to the same sources, mentioned the Orrido in his "Travels in Italy".

The waters of the Pioverna, as comozero.it, magazine.navigazionelaghi.it and travel.thewom.it recall, were historically harnessed by ironworks, spinning mills and a cotton mill, and more recently by a hydroelectric plant. On this point, sportoutdoor24.it adds - without corroboration from other sources - that in the 19th century the Gavazzi family built tunnels and pressure pipes to exploit the stream's hydraulic power.

The Cà del Diavol, between legend and museum

At the entrance to the walkway stands a building that has fueled popular superstitions for centuries. Comozero.it, magazine.navigazionelaghi.it and travel.thewom.it describe it as a pentagonal-plan tower known as the Cà del Diavol, while sportoutdoor24.it contradicts this description. All four outlets agree, however, that the building is known for its frescoes depicting the devil and other mythological figures, and three of them - comozero.it, sportoutdoor24.it and travel.thewom.it - report that, according to popular tradition, the Cà del Diavol was once the site of satanic rites and orgiastic revels.

Travel.thewom.it also reports, without confirmation from other sources, a legend according to which the tower was connected to a network of tunnels used by the people of Bellano to escape during the Austrian occupation.

On a more documentary level, ilgiorno.it - the only source to report this - recounts that during restoration work begun in June 2021, a roughly 400-year-old fresco was discovered inside the Cà del Diavol, and that an underground room with a vaulted, also frescoed ceiling emerged beneath the tower's ground floor. Still according to ilgiorno.it, mayor Antonio Rusconi reportedly stated that the fresco depicts three musicians with instruments leaning over a balustrade.

The multimedia museum

Comozero.it, magazine.navigazionelaghi.it and travel.thewom.it agree in describing the Cà del Diavol as recently renovated and turned into a three-floor multimedia museum. According to the same sources, the first level is dedicated to the geological history of the Orrido; the second to the legend of the Pesa Vegia; and the third offers a virtual reality journey along the course of the Pioverna up to the peak of the Grigna.

Sportoutdoor24.it also notes, without confirmation from other outlets, that artificial lighting was reportedly installed recently to highlight the rock profiles even in the evening hours.

Practical information and accessibility

Sources agree on free admission: orridobellano.eu, comozero.it, sportoutdoor24.it and travel.thewom.it confirm that entry is free for residents of the Municipality of Bellano, for Disability Card holders and for one accompanying person.

Ticket prices, however, remain a point of disagreement among sources. Orridobellano.eu and travel.thewom.it report that the combined Orrido + Cà del Diavol ticket costs €10.00 on weekdays and €15.00 on holidays and in August. Regarding the ticket for the Orrido alone, comozero.it states a full price of €6.00, a figure however contradicted by sportoutdoor24.it and travel.thewom.it; as for the reduced rate for children aged roughly 6-14, sportoutdoor24.it and travel.thewom.it set it at €5.00, a figure that comozero.it contradicts.

Comozero.it and travel.thewom.it note that last entry is allowed 20 minutes before closing. Regarding accessibility, sportoutdoor24.it and travel.thewom.it point out that the route includes stairs and narrow passages that do not allow for strollers or wheelchairs, and that pets are permitted along the Orrido's walkways but are not allowed inside the Cà del Diavol.