The best traffic-free bike rides around Borgonovo Val Tidone

The patronage of this shrine, dedicated to the Madonna, refers to the town of Loreto. This is one of the great and important Marian pilgrimage sites in Europe, along with Lourdes in the French Pyrenees and Fatima in Portugal. Unlike the other two places mentioned, however, Loreto is not known for apparitions of the Mother of God. Here, pilgrims can find something very tangible: Mary's childhood home in Nazareth (Israel). Her parents—not mentioned by name in the biblical writings of the New Testament—are mentioned in apocryphal traditions: Saint Anne and Saint Joachim are thus the grandparents of Jesus Christ (their common feast day in the calendar of saints is July 26). Crusaders likely dismantled the venerated building in Nazareth and brought it to Europe when the era of the Christian kingdoms in the Holy Land came to an end towards the end of the 13th century. But this very sober assumption is countered by a much more interesting legend: According to this, four angels carried out the translation and flew the house over the Mediterranean.

The villa was built according to its original design by Count Antonio Cavazzi della Somaglia, VIII Count and Baron of Somaglia, to showcase the power of his family, in an area where he owned several lands and estates. The count entrusted the design to architect Giovanni Ruggeri. Upon his death in 1688, Antonio bequeathed the villa to his great-nephew Antonio Dati, who subsequently assumed the title of Count of Somaglia. Dati oversaw the expansion of the palace, transforming it into a majestic residence intended as a holiday resort and meeting place for great figures of 18th-century Italian literature and culture, but he never lived to see the work completed, which was completed by his son Antonio Giovanni Battista in 1749.

Beautiful ride between the provinces of PV and PC to do not immediately after a day of rain, terrain in parts clay and muddy. At km. 6.40 take the low variant because the one that gives the track is impassable.

I don't know when they will be finished but a cycle bridge is being planned downstream from the road bridge and it will avoid the stretch of SS 234, to date (March 2025) the foundations have been laid on both banks then we'll see...

The weed situation has been partially resolved

The Rocca di Pianello Val Tidone is an imposing medieval fortress dating back to the 13th century. Built for defensive purposes, the fortress dominates the village with its massive walls and strategic position. Today it houses the Archaeological Museum of Val Tidone, which preserves prehistoric, Roman and medieval finds, offering an overview of local history.

The origins of the village of Nibbiano date back to before the year 1000, a time when it is assumed that the complex was a walled-fortified village with the castle at the center. Some buildings, in fact, still show signs of the slits used to place drawbridges and walkways and the castle tower itself still retains its blocked-up battlements. Until the 14th century it was part of the possessions of the Monastery of San Colombano di Bobbio and in 1335 it passed to the Marquises Malvicini Fontana; in 1765 the Azara family owned the entire village. The castle, built in 1029, is made up of various portions that have been remodeled, demolished and rebuilt over time, especially between the 17th and 18th centuries, until it was transformed into Palazzo Malvicini Fontana with its current conformation. The internal staircase features a 17th-century fresco on the ceiling depicting the coats of arms of the Malvicini Fontana and Dal Verme families.

The bell tower of the Pieve di Stadera emerges from the waves of the road, which in this stretch is constantly up and down.