San Pietro in Motto di Dongio

The walk starts from the church of San Pietro in Motto di Dongio, easily identifiable for its isolated position in the countryside. After visiting this evocative Romanesque monument, follow the path towards San Remigio in Corzoneso. The route runs along the river, partly on a country road and partly on a trail. After about 30 minutes of walking, you reach the oratory of San Martino Viduale, where it is believed there was a monastery-hospice.

Continuing for about ten minutes you arrive at Boscero, a hamlet of Corzoneso, where the oratory of San Remigio stands. Also of Romanesque origin, it preserves frescoes from different periods (13th-17th centuries) and an interesting stucco altar.
After about 5 minutes’ walk, you cross the river and return towards Dongio, a village that in the past experienced strong emigration especially towards France and England.
Some of its inhabitants made their fortune abroad, as testified by the stately houses located along the road and on the square.

On the mountain, you can spot, perhaps with the aid of binoculars, one of the mysterious “pagan houses” carved into the rock and built around the year 1000, probably for defensive purposes. Located in inaccessible areas, their origins have not been conclusively explained even by archaeological investigations.

The village church, dedicated to Saints Fiorenzo and Luca, is a late Baroque building by the Milanese Giuseppe Stella, built after a landslide in 1758 destroyed the previous parish church.
In Dongio there are also numerous grotti (private), cool and natural cellars visible by following the trail that runs behind the village at the foot of the mountain.

You return following the “lower path” signs starting from the Town Hall. In about fifteen minutes you reach the hamlet of Marogno; another ten minutes and here is Motto, with the church of St. Mary and finally that of San Pietro.