What is Bellano known for?

Gorge of the Pioverna, walked on suspended catwalks, the natural attraction that has drawn visitors to Bellano since the nineteenth century. Cotton mill opened in 1870 at the gorge mouth, making Bellano one of the rare industrial centers on Lake Como. Novelist born in Bellano in 1956, who has set most of his fiction in the lakeside streets and characters of his hometown.

Bellano is a comune in the province of Lecco, Lombardy region of Italy, about 79 kilometers from Monza.

Lombardy · Lecco

Bellano

An eastern Lake Como town where the Pioverna cut a gorge through fifteen million years of rock before reaching the lake.

79 km / 49 mi

Nearest hub (Monza)

3,420

Population

Apr–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Bellano sits on the eastern shore of Lake Como at the outlet of the Valsassina, where the Pioverna torrent has carved a deep gorge through rock the glaciers and the river worked for fifteen million years. The Orrido di Bellano is the result: a slot canyon a few hundred meters long, walked on suspended catwalks bolted into the cliff. By 905 the town was under the Archdiocese of Milan; the Torriani then the Visconti held it through the Middle Ages. In 1870 the Cotonificio Cantoni opened a cotton mill near the Orrido, and Bellano became one of the few industrial centers on the lake. The brick chimney still stands at the gorge mouth. The novelist Andrea Vitali, born here, has set most of his fiction in versions of these streets. The commune joined the Borghi più belli network in 2021, and in 2020 absorbed Vendrogno, a former commune higher up Monte Croce di Muggio.

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Gallery

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Known for

Orrido di Bellano
Gorge carved by the Pioverna river, walked on iron catwalks bolted into the cliff, fifteen million years of rock and water.
Chiesa dei Santi Nazaro e Celso
Fourteenth-century parish church on Piazza San Giorgio, with a rose window and façade in alternating black and white stone.
Cotonificio Cantoni
Former cotton mill at the gorge mouth, opened in 1870, with brick chimney still standing as the marker of industrial Bellano.
Ca' del Diavol
Sixteenth-century house at the gorge entrance, built by Tommaso Grossi, ornamented with grotesque masks that gave it its name.
Lakefront and ferry pier
Long promenade along the eastern shore with car-ferry service to Varenna and Menaggio across the lake.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June and September into October are the months Bellano works best. The lake light is sharp, the Orrido catwalks are open, and the ferry to Varenna and Menaggio runs every half hour. July and August fill the eastern shore with day-trippers from Milan and Bergamo, and the lakefront cafés take an hour to seat. November through March is quiet. Many small hotels close, the catwalks shut for winter maintenance, and the lake stays clear of haze. The view from the ferry, town stacked above the gorge mouth with Monte Croce di Muggio rising behind, is the photograph the regulars come back for.