The Alpine Road over the Stelvio Pass: The Section from Colico via Sondrio and Bormio to the Braulio Valley

Appendix.

The Alpine Road over the Stelvio Pass. 2/6

(Continuation.)

Past Colico, the road enters the spacious Adda Valley and, leaving the Plain of Spagna and the hills of Montecchio that command the valley entrance to the left, passes through the villages of Delebio, Rogolö, and Cocio, reaching the market town of Morbegno, through which it cuts. The latter is said by tradition to derive its name from the numerous diseases that once prevailed there. This, however, can only have been the case in very ancient times, for nowadays there is nothing present that could render the site unhealthy, and both locals and strangers feel very well here. Two pack trails (bridle paths) originate in Morbegno. One leads straight to Chiavenna, crossing the Adda via the old bridge of Ganda. The other leads through the Bitto Valley into the mountains up to the borders of the province of Bergamo, and from there via the San Marco hospice downhill to the village of Olmo in the Brembana Valley, where the new carriage road from Bergamo begins. The actual main road from Chiavenna begins near the village of Cosio and only then reaches Morbegno.

From Morbegno onward, our grand new road runs along the left bank of the Adda to the village of Desco, where it crosses the river for the first time. Two other crossings follow at a short distance, after which the road remains on the right bank until the town of Sondrio, the principal place of the Valtellina. From Colico to this point the distance is 45,575 metres (= 140,301 Paris feet), proceeding along the lowest base of the valley with so slight a gradient that it may be regarded as completely level. This section of the road, constructed by engineer Filippo Ferranti, is 7 ½ metres wide and is protected by several works against the inundations of the Adda, which not infrequently, as for example in 1809 and 1810, prove very destructive. The Valtellina now enjoys for the first time the benefit of possessing a road passable for large freight wagons, whereas hitherto one could only make progress here with so-called carrettine and sedie (small two-wheeled single-horse carriages), and even then not without danger.

From Sondrio, which enjoys a very pleasant situation and has likewise been protected against the floods of the Adda by newer engineering works, the road leads via San Giacomo and Tresenda to the miraculous image of the Madonna di Tirano, where a hall has been built for the famous fair held here annually. Here the road crosses the Adda by means of a three-span wooden bridge and reaches Tirano on the left bank. A little before the aforementioned miraculous image, the Poschiavo Valley opens out, through which flows a mountain torrent whose course has now likewise been well regulated by new works. A road passable for carriages leads through this valley to the Swiss border. Opposite Tresenda another wooden bridge over the Adda has been constructed, uniting the main road with a secondary route that leads under the name of 'the royal road dei Zappelli d'Aprica' into Val Camonica, belonging to the province of Bergamo. From Sondrio to Tirano the distance is 26,629 metres (= 81,977 Paris feet). On both sides one sees populous settlements upon the mountain slopes, among which the large town of Ponte, as the birthplace of the famous astronomer Piazzi, deserves special mention.

From Tirano the road climbs directly into the Chiosa Valley (Valchiosa), but then returns to the main valley, passing through the villages of Lovero, Tovo, Mazzo, Grosotto, Grosio, Valladore, Mondadizza, San Pietro di Morignone, and Tola, situated partly on the right and partly on the left bank, and reaches the town of Bormio ) after traversing a stretch of 38,632 metres (= 118,928 Paris feet). The actual roadway has a width of 5 metres, and the gradient is 5 or 6 per cent, except in the Chiosa Valley where it reaches 7 per cent *). In several places the road continues in a straight line for considerable distances, for example from Grosotto to Grosio over a length of 1600 metres (= 4926 Paris feet). It crosses the Adda on four bridges; two additional bridges were also required over the mountain torrent Rovasco near Grosotto and over the Trodolfo shortly before Bormio; although built entirely of wood, they feature very durable masonry abutments. Behind Mondadizza lay the former boundary between the Valtellina and the County of Bormio, which possessed great privileges. The valley, very narrow at this point, was closed by a wall traversed by a gate. From this probably stems the name Serra, which the valley still bears in its upper section.

The ancient and large cluster of houses of Bormio lies at the outermost end of a broad mountain basin, the Piano di Bormio, into which four side valleys of the Adda open: in the east the Furva Valley, from which the Trodolfo emerges, in the west the valleys of Pedenos and Fraele, and in the northwest the Ombralio or Braulio Valley. The latter forms the continuation of the great Adda Valley. Through the valley of Pedenos a path passable for riders leads to Livigno, and a branch thereof leads through the adjacent Fraele Valley via Valmora to the Grisons.

The severity of the climate of Bormio, the sparse vegetation limited to hay, rye, and potatoes ***), the bare and lofty rocks on all sides, and finally the glaciers of the Pizzalino and Monte Cristallo to the east, seem to place a boundary upon all further communication here. Nevertheless, our new road, having cut through the entire length of Bormio, climbs over these rocky masses and reaches the height of the valley by means of switchbacks positioned at suitable spots and favoured by ancient alluvial deposits accumulated here from the Val di Campello, an immense mountain ravine. Shortly before the warm mineral baths, a double difficulty had to be overcome, presented on the one hand by a broad and deep fissure and on the other by an exceptionally high rock rising perpendicularly immediately thereafter. It was resolved to throw a wooden bridge with dry-stone abutments across the abyss and to pierce the rock with a gallery. The bridge has an arch span of 26 ½ metres, a width of 4 metres for the roadway, and a height of 13 metres above the bottom of the chasm. The gallery is 40 metres long, 4 1/5 metres wide, and of equal height. It is called the Baths Gallery, named after the neighbouring warm baths celebrated since the fifth century.

Behind these baths the road proceeds for some distance in minor curves to a spot where it turns right and enters the narrow and wild Braulio Valley, in whose depths the waters of the Adda plunge down in cascades. To the left of this spot lies the entrance to the Fraele Valley, bordered by large larch and spruce forests that supplied the timber required for the road construction. On this side is also the so-called source of the Adda (Fonte di Adda), a rock fissure at the foot of the mountain from which an inexhaustible jet of water emerges, which according to common opinion originates in the small lake of Fraele. All other upper tributaries of the Adda are snow and glacier streams. In the Fraele Valley there is also a rich iron mine belonging to the district of Bormio. (To be continued.)

*) This town is also called Worms, and after it the Stilfser Joch is called by many the Wormser Joch.

**) A gradient of 6 per cent corresponds to an angle of 3° 26' 1'', one of 7 per cent to 4° 0' 44''.

***) The honey of Bormio, however, is a highly sought-after commercial commodity.