737 - Calanca Route

At the valley's outlet, the villages of Castaneda and Santa Maria rise on the terraces of the Mesolcina side, while inside the inhabited areas are mostly located at the foot of steep wooded and rocky slopes or on high-altitude terraces.

A reserve of raw materials and first-class natural spaces

The landscape of the outer Calanca offers lush and varied vegetation, dominated by chestnut trees, which partially conceal the large terraces built over the centuries for cereal cultivation. The spruce and larch gradually colonize the inner valley, increasingly giving it a typically alpine appearance, to which high mountain pastures also contribute. Wood, stone, and water distinctly mark the natural and cultural landscape of the Calanca.

Layers of human history

The history of settlement of the terraces of Castaneda and Santa Maria has millenary origins, as evidenced by the discovery of a settlement from the late Neolithic, and is linked to the underlying transit route of the San Bernardino, a bridge between the Mediterranean world and the continental one. The oldest settlements in the inner valley date from after the year 1000 and until the last century were characterized by the practice of transhumance on three levels, from the valley floor to the mountains and alpine pastures, as well as frequent migrations of people through the transverse alpine passes.

The Calanca Route in three stages.

1. Stage Grono (340 m) - Santa Maria (955 m): 4 km, 2 hours (Santa Maria - Braggio: 7.3 km, 3.5 hours). A cultural landscape shaped over millennia

From Grono, the route climbs to Nadro before winding along the Menö trail and the old valley road built around 1830 for timber transport. You reach the picturesque complex of Pisella mills, surrounded by centuries-old agricultural terraces and overlooked by the chestnut forest of Mola. Just above, the terrace of Castaneda (800 m) bears witness to agriculture dating back over 4500 years.

From Castaneda, an ancient mule track flanked by dry stone walls leads to the village of Santa Maria, dominated by an architectural complex that, unique for its beauty, evokes a majestic past. Santa Maria, with its parish church already documented in 1219, was the religious and political capital of the entire Calanca. The current appearance of the church dates from the early seventeenth century, when the Capuchin Fathers settled in the adjacent hospice. The medieval tower was built in the 13th-14th centuries by the counts of Sacco. In a dominant position above the Mesolcina valley floor, it was part of a territorial control system.

From Santa Maria, a path leads to the Bald mountains (1220 m) where the view extends over the side valleys of the Mesolcina and the Magadino Plain. The path climbs to the Pian di Scignan peat bog (1500 m) and the plateau of the Sant’Antoni de Bolada chapel (1674 m) from where you can enjoy an unbeatable view of the Calanca, before descending towards Braggio (1320 m).

2. Stage Santa Maria (955 m) - Selma (914 m): 10.3 km, 3.5 hours. The alpine world: natural elements and human enterprise

From Santa Maria to Buseno-Molina (710 m), the historic Circolo trail serves as a bridge between outer and inner Calanca. The route is overlooked by the spectacular rock formations of Crap de Maria and crosses a very unique landscape, dominated by broom, junipers, and hawthorns. In Buseno, the last lush chestnut groves stand, whose fruits have been the basis of rural nutrition for centuries.

Stone In the valley, the exploitation of gneiss boasts a centuries-old tradition. Along the stretch connecting Buseno to Arvigo (820 m), on the right bank of the Calancasca, you pass an extensive extraction and processing area of beola stone active for about a century now.

Water and air Between Arvigo and Selma, the route skirts the left bank of the Calancasca offering fairytale natural landscapes. From the arched bridge mentioned in the sixteenth century, the ancient mule track suddenly leads to a spectacular alpine environment dominated by the rushing water flow. The cable cars of Arvigo and Selma connect the valley floor to the terraces of Braggio (1320 m) and Landarenca (1280 m), also accessible on foot by historic mule tracks. The hamlets of Braggio echo the compact rural core of Landarenca, a jewel of stone and wood architecture.

3. Stage Selma (914 m) - Rossa (1088 m): 6.7 km, 2 hours. Peoples, animals, goods: migrations, transhumance, trade

From Selma to Cauco (981 m), the path reaches the first true flat area. Cauco was a center for soapstone processing. This craft, which dates back to Roman times in the Moesano, gained a prominent role in the eighteenth century.

North of the village of Cauco, you cross the floodplain of Pian di Alne, named after the white alders that partly cover it. In the past, when timber transport took place on the river, loads of logs rested here, held by a weir built near the current bridge.

The parish church of Santa Domenica (1035 m) is a masterpiece of Baroque architecture. Together with the mother church of Santa Maria, it was the only one to hold the title of parish already from the mid-sixteenth century. In Santa Domenica and Augio (1039 m), the positive effects of Calanca emigration to European cities are evident in both religious and private buildings, such as Casa Spadino, an 18th-century villa, and the Cascata hotel, with its beautiful hall of mirrors, from the early 20th century.

From Rossa, the transhumance routes lead to the alpine pastures, appreciated for centuries, while in the past, resin craftsmen called ragiaioli were active alongside the woodcutters in the Valbella woods, their goods requested as far as Bavaria.

The Giümela Pass (2117 m), Buffalora Pass (2261 m), Btta de Trescolmen (2161 m), and Passit Pass (2082 m) have always been the most important crossings to the neighboring valleys.