San Pellegrino Terme, devoted to vacationing since the 19th century, soon felt the need to provide itself with a space dedicated to strolling and resting along the Brembo. As early as the mid-1800s, the municipality provided for the planting of an avenue of horse chestnuts, creating a shady path that connected the bridges and skirted the river: an elegant and pleasant promenade, a rare privilege in the Brembana Valley and a clear sign of its tourist identity.
The avenue, inaugurated in 1852, represented one of the first public interventions of urban decorum, aimed at offering vacationers a place to meet and quiet down. Not surprisingly, a few years later, the tourist tax was introduced, which was also useful in dealing with the repeated damage caused by the 19th-century floods.
It would be necessary to wait until the 1930s for the final transformation of the front along the Brembo: the old shacks and sawmill were replaced by an elegant arcade with stores and cafes, designed by Lorenzo Colleoni, whose family crest is still recognizable in the decoration of the arches. From the same period are the concrete balustrades facing the river, adorned with cast-iron candelabras with luminous bowls, typical elements of the aesthetic language of the time.
Completing the urban setting are the Excelsior, a large luxury hotel now under renovation, and the Town Hall, which takes on its present appearance thanks to two successive restorations: the first in the early 20th century by architect Squadrelli (the same as the Grand Hotel and Casino), and the second in the 1930s by architect Angelini.
Even today, the tree-lined avenue remains one of the town's most beloved places: a meeting space, a slow stroll and a living memory of a season when San Pellegrino Terme imagined itself the capital of Alpine elegance.
Historical attraction
Colleoni arcades
Where this place is mentioned
- Liberty and beyond Go to the itinerary
- From the Venetian Age to the Belle Époque Go to the itinerary
- Thermalism in the Brembana Valley: history of a spring that has become a myth Go to the article
More places of the same type
Ancient mines of Dossena
Historical attraction, Wonder of nature
Dossena boasts a respectable mining past that is said to date back to Etruscan times. During the Roman period Dossena was an important mining center...
Sciesopoli in Selvino
Historical attraction, Memory and identity
The history of Sciesopoli began on June 11, 1933, when the Milanese fascist group named after patriot Amatore Sciesa founded a farmhouse in Selvino....
Grand Hotel San Pellegrino
Architecture, Historical attraction
The Grand Hotel dominates the tree-lined boulevard of San Pellegrino Terme with its monumental Art Nouveau facade. Built between 1902 and...
Rimani Palace
Architecture, Historical attraction
The architectural vicissitudes of Palazzo Rimani, now more correctly referred to as Palazzo Zambelli Rimani, have yet to be clarified, but a cadastral map of 1812 shows it...
The Attone Bridge and the customs
Historical attraction
Along the course of the Brembo River, in the municipality of Ubiale Clanezzo, is the medieval Attone Bridge, built of stone with a single arch,...
Baresi Mill
Historical attraction
The Baresi Mill is a small 17th-century building that once housed a flour mill, a walnut press, a mallet,...
Palazzo Milesi and Danza Macabra
Architecture, Historical attraction, Artwork
Noble 17th-century building richly decorated. Prominent among the late 18th-century frescoes of the eastern high is a ”Dance Macabre” whose most significant subjects concern the...
Piazza Brembana Station
Historical attraction
Piazza Brembana station was reached by the first passenger trains on July 31, 1926, with the opening of the final section of the Valley Railway...
Ruins dwelling of the Badgers
Historical attraction
In the southern part of the town of Cornello are the ruins of the oldest home of the Tasso Family, although the family group had other...
Via Porticata di Averara
Historical attraction
The Via porticata of Averara constitutes a section of the ancient Via Mercatorum, the most important of the ancient roads of the Brembana Valley as it allowed the...
The Old Bridge and the Priula Bridge
Historical attraction
San Giovanni Bianco is the village where the changes in the valley road system are most visible due to the bridges. The Ponte Vecchio is the...
Rock carvings in Carona. Open-air museum
Historical attraction
History in the rock. An area, between altitudes 2,100 and 2,450 m asl, with numerous engraved boulders has been identified in the territory of Carona....
House of Rovelli inlayers
Historical attraction
The Rovelli family “marangoni” that is, carpenters, lived for generations in Cusio Superiore, a district that in the 15th century was part of the municipality of Averara of which...
The arcaded street
Historical attraction
The route of Cornello's via Mercatorum was characterized by the presence of a porticoed road, where, until the arrival of the Venetians in the Bergamasque...
Bottagisi House
Architecture, Historical attraction
This ancient and distinctive building overlooking the Via Mercatorum has often been attributed the function of a “Venetian customs house,” but there are no...
Dragon Spring
Historical attraction, Water point
The "Dragon Spring" is a legendary spring in Oltre il Colle (Brembana Valley) linked to an ancient tale of a seven-headed dragon...
Villa Belotti
Architecture, Historical attraction
The villa that now houses the “B. Belotti” Library was built in 1906 by architect Giovanni Barboglio for notary Ulisse Cacciamali. In 1913 it was...
Old House of the hamlet Foppa
Architecture, Historical attraction
This ancient building still retains the original architectural lines quite visible and testifies to the existence in the Averara Valley of a precise house-building technique,...
Tricuspidal Fountain
Historical attraction, Water point
The Fountain called Tricuspidale located in Serina is so named because of the three spires above it, dates back to 1645 and stands at the...
Granelli Square Railway Station
Historical attraction, Memory and identity
The Granelli Square railway station in San Pellegrino Terme, opened in 1906, represented one of the most elegant and symbolic points on the entire route of the...
Villa Quarenghi
Architecture, Historical attraction
Villa Quarenghi is a private clinic founded in 1925 on the model of Swiss clinics. Today it is a renowned rehabilitation institute for patients...
The Castle at Forcella di Bordogna
Historical attraction
In the locality of Forcella rises a hill known in toponymy as “The Castle,” at the foot of which stands the ancient little church of St. John the Baptist. Next to...
Contrada Mezzacà and Vicar's Palace
Historical attraction
Serina was the capital of the Upper Brembana Valley, the seat of the Venetian Vicariate and was the administrative, economic and cultural reference point of the entire territory....
Zignoni Square
Historical attraction
Zignoni Square was the former market square of San Giovanni Bianco and is now dedicated to Vistallo Zignoni, the character depicted in the statue in the center...
Medieval Towers of Averara
Historical attraction
The remains of the Fountain Tower and the tower above the Corna testify to the important role played by Averara in the Middle Ages within the Upper Valley...
House “Mendini”
Architecture, Historical attraction
It is an Art Nouveau villa built in 1906, two years after the Grand Hotel of San Pellegrino Terme opened. It was commissioned by Amilcare Arrigoni...
Rastèl Square
Historical attraction
The Piazza del Rastèl or Rake Square, an ancient peasant work tool used in meadows to harvest grass or hay, is a widening...
The Friars' Bridge
Historical attraction
The Friars' Bridge owes its name to the Capuchin friars who had it built between 1690-1699, after the construction of the convent of the...
Fifteenth-century house
Architecture, Historical attraction
In addition to the administrative power assumed by Serina during Venetian rule, the presence of an important transit and trade route also influenced the fame...
Carona hydroelectric power plant
Historical attraction
The Carona hydroelectric power plant, with an efficient output of 48,000 kW, represents the main plant in the Brembana Valley. Its complex hydraulic system...
Clanezzo Castle
Historical attraction
Clanezzo Castle stands in Ubiale Clanezzo, in the heart of the Bergamo valleys, in a strategic location where the Imagna, Brembana and...
Portico of San Bernardino
Historical attraction
The 14th-century portico was part of the Oratory of the Disciplines. The fifteenth-century building, underwent several transformations over time and in particular several additions were made...
Notary Arizzi's House
Architecture, Historical attraction
As you enter the village, the first house on the right is that of Notary Giuseppe Arizzi, a house with frescoes on the front facade. The notary Arizzi (1873-1960)...
San Pellegrino Terme hydroelectric power plant
Historical attraction
Between 1907 and 1908, the Orobia power plant was erected to supply power to some Brembian and Lecco companies with a capacity of 3,000...
Rosmini Square train station
Historical attraction
In 1906 a novelty peeped into the Brembana Valley, as far as San Giovanni Bianco, changing the local tourist and commercial volume: the railway....
Villa Speranza
Architecture, Historical attraction
At the beginning of the 20th century, San Pellegrino Terme experienced its peak tourist period. In 1908, a record of over 40,000 visitors was registered,...
San Nicola Bridge
Architecture, Historical attraction
The San Nicola Bridge, also known as the Old Bridge, is one of the most significant historical structures in San Pellegrino Terme. Built between 1430...
Ancient Via Priula Route
Architecture, Historical attraction
For centuries, the ancient Via Priula was one of the main connections between the Republic of Venice, Valtellina, and Grisons. Commissioned by the Venetian Republic to...