Sat in the centre of Media Valtellina, Grosio has been inhabited since as early as the prehistoric times, with more than 5,000 petroglyphs to prove it. These rock engravings, which date back to the end of the Neolithic age (4000 BC) and the Iron Age (1000 BC), can be found on the Rupe Magna on the ‘Dosso dei Castelli’ (the hill of the castles) where the ruins of the Castle of San Faustino (Castello Vecchio / Old Castle) and the castle built by Visconti Venosta (Castello Nuovo / New Castle) lie. On the western part of the hill, there’s a Romanesque bell tower at the castle church of Santi Faustino and Giovita; there are two tombs excavated in the rock at the foot of the tower. In 1355 it became the feudal property of the Venosta family, and since the 1600s has been key in forming a close relationship with the Republic of Venice via the Passo del Mortirolo.
The town is home to the 17th-century
Church of San Giuseppe with an elegant belfry as well as the
Church of San Giorgio (12th-15th century), which is completely covered internally with rich frescoes that span many styles and epochs, rendering it particularly fascinating: most notable on the inside facade wall is a fresco by
Cipriano Valorsa, a 16th-century Grosio-born painter, often dubbed the ‘Raffaello of Valtellina.’
You can’t visit Grosio without stopping by the town museum set inside the sophisticated Villa Visconti Venosta palazzo, built with a central body and portico surmounted by loggia, in a U-shaped structure with two wings enclosing the courtyard. Inside are beautifully preserved, lavish rooms furnished with period furniture, works of art and valuable objects – not least the library with approximately 2,000 titles. Through an ornate 18th-century iron gate you enter a vast park, now open to the public. The town still hangs onto some quintessential customs at different times of the year, including one event in which the women wear traditional dress dating back to the 1600s.
The magnificent Valgrosina opens out above Grosio’s large hydroelectric power station once you’ve passed the small village of Ravoledo. One of Valtellina’s transverse valleys, it ranks amongst one of its best-looked-after and offers peerless natural beauty.
