{"id":11868,"date":"2026-05-13T23:32:32","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T21:32:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ceresio5valli.it\/poi\/castel-san-pietro\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T23:32:32","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T21:32:32","slug":"castel-san-pietro","status":"publish","type":"poi","link":"https:\/\/ceresio5valli.it\/en\/poi\/castel-san-pietro\/","title":{"rendered":"Castel San Pietro"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>A small fortified medieval village suspended above Lake Piano<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the small hill of Montecchio del Brione, in a strategic position at the entrance of the roads that go up towards Val Cavargna and Val Rezzo, stands Castel San Pietro - a fortified historical centre that dominates the <a href=\"https:\/\/ceresio5valli.it\/en\/poi\/riserva-naturale-lago-di-piano\/\">Piano Lake Nature Reserve<\/a>. It&#039;s one of those places that mass tourism hasn&#039;t touched: a few stone houses, walls, a tower house with an underpass, and the echoes of a history that dates back to the 12th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A thousand years of history in a few stones<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Also known as <strong>Carlazzo Castle<\/strong>, the village was born as a defensive fortress during the <strong>ten-year war between Como and Milan (1118-1127)<\/strong>. Originally a possession of the archbishops of Milan, in <strong>1240<\/strong> it passes under the jurisdiction of Como, with which it shares its fate as part of the Pieve of Porlezza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The original structure was a true defensive complex, with a ring of walls, towers, and gates enclosing the highest part of the town, used as a refuge during attacks. What remains today\u2014walls, a tower house with an underpass, and several clustered courtyard houses\u2014is due precisely to the solidity of the construction, which has withstood numerous sieges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Around the <strong>15th century<\/strong> the site was transformed into a fortified agricultural village, and in <strong>18th century<\/strong> is enriched with <strong>Villa Sala<\/strong>, an elegant manor house, and a building dedicated to silkworm breeding (the \u201cbigattiera\u201d) \u2014 evidence of the ancient silk vocation of these valleys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What do you see today?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Remains of the walls<\/strong> and traces of the medieval defensive perimeter<\/li>\n<li>La <strong>tower house with underpass<\/strong>, architectural heart of the nucleus<\/li>\n<li><strong>Villa Sala<\/strong>, eighteenth-century residence<\/li>\n<li>The ancient one <strong>silkworm farm<\/strong>, memory of silkworm breeding<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>courtyard houses<\/strong> grouped together in the village, partly still inhabited<\/li>\n<li>Secondary paths branching off to hidden corners and further ruins<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to get there<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Castel San Pietro can be easily reached on foot from <strong>House of the Reserve<\/strong> of Lake Piano: after crossing the reeds and reaching the equipped beach of Rivetta, take the road that passes through pastures and riding stables and with a short climb you reach the historic center. From here the <a href=\"https:\/\/ceresio5valli.it\/en\/percorsi\/visita-alla-riserva-lago-di-piano\/\">circular route of the Reserve<\/a> it continues through the thick vegetation of the Brion area and descends towards the Porlezza-Menaggio cycle\/pedestrian path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Free parking is available near the Casa della Riserva. The village is open year-round: it&#039;s a small &quot;open-air museum&quot; where visitors can explore with respect for the private homes that are still inhabited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When to go there<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The village can be visited in any season, but the most suggestive combination is the <strong>spring<\/strong> \u2014 when the Reserve explodes with water lilies and the light cuts obliquely through the medieval walls \u2014 or the\u2019<strong>fall<\/strong>, when the surrounding forest changes color and the atmosphere becomes almost suspended. In winter, with the frozen lake seen from above, it&#039;s a special setting for those seeking silence and landscape photography.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A small fortified medieval village suspended above Lake Piano. On the small hill of Montecchio del Brione, in a\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","comune":[23],"class_list":["post-11868","poi","type-poi","status-publish","hentry","comune-carlazzo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ceresio5valli.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/poi\/11868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ceresio5valli.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/poi"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ceresio5valli.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/poi"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ceresio5valli.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/poi\/11868\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ceresio5valli.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"comune","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ceresio5valli.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comune?post=11868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}