Where merchants and wayfarers passed through: five historical routes in the Brembana Valley

The Brembana Valley is not only appreciated by car, it is by walking it that it is at its best.
These ancient roads are lines carved into the rock by merchants, soldiers, miners and pilgrims. To walk them today is to relive centuries of sweat, trade and human ingenuity, in an area where the mountains have always been a bridge, not an obstacle. Here are five of them, including historic trails and thematic routes rediscovered in recent times for contemporary hiking.

Via Priula, the highway of the Serenissima

In 1593 the Venetians accomplished a daring feat: a high-altitude carriage road from Bergamo to Valtellina, bypassing Spanish domains. Thanks to podestà Alvise Priuli, the Via Priula was born, with stone bridges, pavements and low walls still visible in Mezzoldo. It served to control trade to the north, with post and customs posts anticipating our highways.

Why walk it: a trek that immerses you in the Venice of the Doges.

Via Mercatorum, trades, chatter and hamlets

Before the Priula, the Via Mercatorum reigned, an interweaving since the Middle Ages of mule tracks from Bergamo to the Alps and Switzerland. Wool, salt, iron, cheese... but also news, dialects and ideas. Cornello dei Tasso (and the history of the mail) was born from her and declined when routes changed, local families became ante litteram couriers.

Why walk it: follow it today and the Middle Ages come alive around you.

Via del Ferro, the road of the miners

For centuries the upper Brembana Valley has lived on iron: mines at high altitudes, smelting furnaces in the valley bottoms, forges and trade to the plains and beyond the Orobie. The Via del Ferro connects these places between Valtorta and Mezzoldo along about 25 km, following paths and mule tracks that were working routes for miners, coal miners and blacksmiths. A thematic itinerary that tells the story of an industrious valley marked by foreign workers and ancient domains.

Why walk it: a journey through Alpine industrial memory.

Tavern Road, the life of the villages

The more intimate one is the Strada Taverna, along the Brembilla, among stables, courtyards and terraced fields. It unites villages with taverns that were beating hearts: refreshments, bargains, exchanges of rumors. A story of everyday resilience, far from the great streets.

Why walk it: Those taverns were the living room of the villages.

Way of the Rocks, nature in charge

And finally the Via delle Rocce, a spectacle of gorges, waterfalls and walls in the Orobie: water and stone dictate the path, man has been following it for centuries. Seasonal route, marked by the risk of floods. A fragile balance between human presence and mountain force.
The Via delle Rocche is in Valtellina and connects with the Orobie Bergamasche towards Aprica and Val Seriana, where we find well-preserved and visitable hammers and forges.

Why walk it: only on foot do you get unique perspectives.

Walk the streets