Discover Dorio: Holiday Apartments, Churches and the Sentiero del Viandante

Dorio combines the proximity of lake and mountain with a villagescape that reveals its history in tangible details. Stone houses cluster around the church; narrow lanes run between the lake and the mountain. In Mandonico, rustic houses line the path and the grassy terraces of the terrain.

Dorio between history and old paths

In the Middle Ages, Mandonìco, also known as Mondonico, was the most important settlement in Dorio. The medieval Pieve di San Giorgio in Mandonico features a fresco cycle dating from 1492. Around 1300, a chapel dedicated to Saint George was probably built there. The Church of San Giorgio, formerly Dorio’s parish church, already existed in 1412. The Sentiero del Viandante runs alongside San Giorgio, the old parish church of Dorio, thereby connecting the village centre with a hiking trail.

Hiking between Dorio and Colico

Sufficiently fit hikers can complete the Sentiero del Viandante in three or four days. The section between Dorio and Colico climbs through a chestnut forest to the Chapel of San Rocco. The frescoed Oratory of San Rocco was built in 1858 along the Sentiero del Viandante in the direction of Colico. After San Rocco, a section with steps leads to a viewpoint on the ridge that separates Dorio’s coast from the coast overlooking the Laghetto di Piona.

Lake and mountain views in the local area

The Chapel of San Rocco lies at an altitude of 487 metres and announces the Ronchi di Vesgallo at 555 metres. The churchyard of San Giorgio offers a view over the lake and the houses of Dorio farther below. The Campanile di San Giorgio replaced the original Romanesque bell tower in 1653 and was restored in 1978. From it, the view extends to the Grigne and the Rhaetian Alps, which frame the lake.

Landscape and distinctive traces

Near the Sentiero del Viandante, the landscape consists of rock shaped by the Quaternary period, chestnut trees, birches and the first beeches. On the Lecco shore of Lake Como, there are extensive terraces where olives, grapevines and laurels were once cultivated. In the Località Comballo, cup-marked stones are considered traces of religious rites. The isolated Church of Madonna Regina dei Monti stands on Monte Sparesèe in the municipality of Dorio. It was built so that mountain farmers could celebrate religious feast days there without having to return to Dorio’s distant parish church each time. When choosing a holiday apartment in Dorio, you can therefore focus on local history and frescoes, hiking days with elevation gain, or landscapes ranging from lake and rock to the mountains.

For the higher-level travel overview: Lecco.

More destinations

More places within the same destination:

Paderno, Bosisio Parini, Suello, Barzio, Vestreno, Lierna, Olginate, Annone Di Brianza.