The Via Priula is one of the most fascinating historical routes in the Orobian Alps, a trade route built between 1592 and 1593 at the behest of the Venetian podestà Alvise Priuli, with the strategic goal of connecting Bergamo to Valtellina while avoiding the territories of the Duchy of Milan. This new artery, described by Priuli himself as “a road carved out of the rock,” represented an extraordinarily innovative engineering work for the time: a wide, safe road passable by wagons and pack animals, designed to boost the Serenissima's commercial traffic without paying duties to the Milanese.
The original route started in Bergamo, went up the entire Brembana Valley and reached Mezzoldo, where the great climb to the San Marco Pass began. Along the way it faced gorges, canyons, bold bridges and sections dug into the living rock, faithfully following the course of the Brembo River. Many of these testimonies are still visible today and tell of the economic and cultural importance of the route, which for centuries allowed merchants, wayfarers and caravans to cross the mountains in safety.
The current hiking route traces the ancient route in several parts, passing through villages rich in history and rural architecture, old customs houses, cantoniere houses and viewpoints that once served as references for travelers. Climbing to the San Marco Pass, one enters the heart of the Orobie Park, where a grandiose panorama opens up: to the south, the Bergamo Pre-Alps and the Brembana Valley; to the north, the stark peaks of the Rhaetian Alps that anticipate the gaze toward Valtellina.
