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The Sanctuary of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin
The Sanctuary of the Assumption, dating from the 15th-16th century, is east of the town of Morbegno. A real masterpiece that took tan years to create (1516-1526) is the monumental and solemn wooden image towering over the high altar: an amazing creation, sculpted and carved by Giovanni Angelo Del Mayno, painted and gilded by Gaudenzio Ferrari and Fermo Stella.

The Church and Convent of Sant’Antonio
The old Chirch of Sant’Antonio, annexed to the homonymous Dominican Convent, was expanded by the Dominicans of the Observance in the second half of the 15th century on the site where there had previously been a fourteenth-century church dedicated to St. Anthony and St. Martha.
The art of renaissance Lombard painting is marvellously expressed here: in a lunette on the façade a luminous Nativity stands out, frescoed by Gaudenzio Ferrari (1475-1546), depicting in a harmonius group Saint Joseph, the Virgin Mary, two musician angels and two angels holding Baby Jesus, while a donkey and an ox stare at the viewers. Just below it, there is a renaissance Pietà (1517), the work of Vincenzo Ventretta.
Inside too there are renaissance frescoes of rare beauty: Stories of Saint Catherine of Alexandria (1515) in the first chapel on the left; the Four Evangelists, monumental againts a blue background, on the vault of the third chapel on the left; and finally, the Stories of Saint Martin of Tours in the third chapel on the right.

The Church of San Martino and the Madonnetta
The Church is inside the cemetery of Morbegno. It has a sloping gallery and the interior is divided into a nave and two aisles by four granite colums. It has not been possibile to date it with any precision: it is traditionally said to be one of the first churches built in the 9th century.
It has three chapels, the principal one of which is decorated with a series of frescoes dedicated to St. Martin, painted in 1575 by Franesco Guaita and Abbondio Baruta.
Giacomo Parravicini, alias the Gianolo, is instead the author of the altarpiece depicting St. Martin on horseback in the act of giving his mantle to the poor man. The chapel on the left is dedicated to Our Lady of Loreto. The inner vaults were frescoed in 1842 by the local artist Angelo Greco.
Very near the cemetery, the chapel of the Madonnetta is built on the mountainside. According to popular tradition it is miraculous, because the Virgin is said to have stopped here before appearing at the Sanctuary of Tirano in 1504. Giovanni Gavazzeni is the author of the frescoes under the portico, which completes the building, and of those in the tympanum. The chapel is also called the Chapel of the Madonna del Petacco because it was built around the image, held to be miraculous, of the Virgin, frescoed in the fifteenth century on the house of a certain Romeo Petacco.

The Church of San Pietro and San Paolo
Since the year it was built (1337) this building has been restored several times, and today very little can still be seen of the original structure. It has a single nave, with lateral chapels and three spans. In the Church some valuable works of art by Pietro Bianchi and Gianolo are conserved. We also mention the medallions depicting scenes from the Martyrdom and Glory of Saint Peter and Saint Paul.

The Bridge of Ganda
The Bridge of Ganda is the symbol of Morbegno and witness to the town’s long and eventful history.
In fact it seems that the bridge was located on one of the most important trade routes in the valley, connecting the Po world to the countries in Northern Europe. Now, the bridge of Ganda, built in 1778, shows itself in all its massive splendour without losing its elegant lines.

Piazza delle Tre Fontane
Piazza delle Tre Fontane (also known as Piazza Marconi) is in the heart of Morbegno. It holds all the charm of a town that has menaged to preserve its enchanting old atmosphere.
From here, going up Via San Marco, you get to Palazzo Malacrida.

Palazzo Malacrida
This noble eighteenth-century palazzo, the most significant example of rococo in Valtellina, rises, majestic and severe, in the higher part of Morbegno, in the heart of the old town district of Scimicà.
The spirit of the eighteenth century is faithfully reflected in the magnificent ballroom on the upper floor. A group of local painters expressed in colour and images, on walls and ceilings, the sentiments of that time: everything is movment, choreography and grace in the frescoes of Palazzo Malacrida.
An attentive tour has a lot of surprises in store. Among them, the continuous presence of nature, in the form of stuccos of stylised flowers, leaves and fruit, or in paneles creating the illusion of a large and colourful garden and in the recurrent depictions of various kind of animals. 
Visits only for groups (tel. +39 0342 601140 - Morbegno Tourist Office).

Collegiate of Saint John the Baptist
The beautiful façade of the collegiate of Saint John the Baptist is in piazza San Giovanni. It is decorated with figures from the Old and New Testaments as well as symbols of the Catholic faith.
This church, in baroque forms, replaces the previous sixteenth-century one. The interior is spacious and majestic.
In the second chapel on the left, above the altar, there is a painting , harmonious in lines and colours, by one of the most admired Venetian artists of the 18th century, Gianbattista Pittoni.
In the apse, the eighteenth-century paintings and frescoes of Pietro Ligari, the greatest painter from Valtellina of all times, are conserved.

Information at:
Morbegno Tourist Office - Valgerola - Valmasino - Valtartano
Tel. +39 0342 601140 - info@portedivaltellina.it

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