Manzoni's landscape
"That branch of Lake Como which turns towards the south, between two unbroken chains of mountains...": so begins The Betrothed (I Promessi Sposi), the novel by Alessandro Manzoni, published in its definitive version in 1840, the most famous book in Italian literature, read by every Italian schoolchild. The story of Renzo and Lucia, two young silk workers whose marriage is prevented by the powerful Don Rodrigo, is set around Lecco, at the southern tip of the eastern branch of the lake, where Manzoni spent his childhood.
In and around Lecco you can follow a literary itinerary through the places that inspired the novel: Villa Manzoni, the family house, now a museum; the hamlet of Olate, with the supposed house of Lucia and the church where the wedding was to take place; the Palazzotto di Don Rodrigo above Lecco; the convent of Pescarenico, where Fra Cristoforo lived; and the castle of the Innominato, identified with the ruins at Somasca or Vercurago. The city is dominated by the jagged peaks of the Resegone, the "saw" of the mountains described in the novel.
Tip: the cable car to the Piani d'Erna and the Resegone offers great views; the lakeside promenade of Lecco is pleasant at sunset.
Where it is
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