La Via Mercatorum is a relatively recent designation that originated in tourism, but is now widely used to refer to an ancient system of links that crossed the Orobie Mountains well before the construction of the Priula Road. Beyond the name, what matters is the story it tells: that of routes used for centuries by merchants, shepherds and wayfarers to move between different valleys and territories.
These routes are still surprising today because of their course: they do not always follow the valley floors, but cut obliquely across the slopes, crossing passes and ridges with a logic all their own. More than a single “road,” the Mercatorum is a network of paths: a continuous directrix connecting Seriana Valley, Val Serina e Val Brembana.
In fact, studies conducted by associations and local history enthusiasts speak of a plurality of paths, all traceable to the same function: to allow the transit of people and goods over long distances, when these paths were real strategic axes of exchange and crossing.
From south to north, the Mercatorum network starts from. Nembro, goes up toward Selvino and then enters the territory of the Brembana Valley, dividing into two branches: a higher one, which passes through Traffickers e Cornalba, and a lower one that crosses Algua and the Val Serina. A Serina the paths rejoin and continue together to Dossena, where again two alternatives open up: one toward St. Gallen, the other towards Grumo, and then both descend to the Brembo valley floor near Cornello dei Tasso, historic mercantile village.
In more recent times, a extension towards the upper Brembana Valley, in the direction of Averara and of the Val Mora, recovering ancient mule tracks that connected the valley with the Val Gerola and the Bitto Valley, territories that would later also be crossed by the Priula.
Today the Via Mercatorum is an opportunity to walk inside history: a slow journey through villages, ridges and landscapes that tell the story of the Brembana Valley as a land of passage, exchange and encounter.
