Erba, writes Camminacittà, came into being through the merger, between 1906 and 1928, of seven formerly independent municipalities: Erba, Incino, Buccinigo, Crevenna, Cassina Mariaga, Arcellasco and Parravicino. The centre thus keeps several old cores side by side: the Romanesque pieve of Incino, a fortified village, the parish church, the villas of Erba Alta. This itinerary strings them together along Camminacittà’s path 1, «Tra monti, laghi, castelli e ville di delizia: il Cammino delle Grazie», an urban route in four stages from piazza Sant’Eufemia to Villa Ceriani.
The data come from the Camminacittà pages, consulted on 5 October 2026 (updated in 2021). It is about 3.40 kilometres, 1 hour 30 on foot excluding visits, tourist difficulty, about 80 metres of climb; the surface varies from asphalt to cobbles, gravel and dirt. One thing has changed since 2021: Villa Ceriani, where the route ends, has been a restoration site and the civic museum it houses is closed (see below).
The walk at a glance
| Stage | Length | Walking time | Elevation change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. From the church of Sant’Eufemia to Villincino (piazza Prina) | about 680 m | 15 minutes | not stated |
| 2. Villincino and the church of Santa Maria Nascente (piazza Prepositurale) | about 670 m | 15 minutes | not stated |
| 3. From piazza Prepositurale to the end of via Crotto Rosa | about 900 m | 25 minutes | about 50 m up |
| 4. From Erba Alta to Villa Ceriani | about 1,150 m | 35 minutes | about 15 m up |
From the Villa you can walk back to piazza Prepositurale with another 500 metres and about 10 minutes.
Sant’Eufemia and the market square
The route starts in the small square of Sant’Eufemia, dominated by the Romanesque bell tower, built in the 11th century, perhaps also as a watchtower for the pieve, and now the symbol of the city. Camminacittà traces the origin of the plebana to the 5th century and notes that a change in the paving in front of the church marks the area of the early medieval baptistery of San Giovanni Battista. You can go round behind to see the apse of exposed stone.
A little further on is piazza Vittorio Veneto, also called the market square of Incino because the market was held here from the 15th century at least. The building with nine arches is from 1827-28; on the columns you can still see the rings for tying up animals. From via Diaz, looking north, you see the mouth of the Valle Bova, a partial nature reserve since 2007, famous for the Buco del Piombo. The stretch ends in piazza Prina.
Villincino
In piazza Prina begin the lanes of the medieval village of Villincino: the house of the Carpani, the tower with the 14th-century mullioned window, the Pusterla, the wash house. Camminacittà recalls that in the 19th century casa Guenzati-Rivolta hosted Saint John Bosco. The page tells what there is to see and says that the sources do not agree on the origin of the Stallazzo.
Villa Majnoni and Santa Maria Nascente
Leaving the lane, via Garibaldi leads to Villa Majnoni, now the town hall, where Camminacittà points out the courtyard and the avenue of cypresses. In front is piazza Prepositurale, dedicated to the fellow citizen father Aristide Pirovano, a missionary bishop, with the church of Santa Maria Nascente: already mentioned in the 13th century as Santa Maria Bella, it became the prepositural church at the wish of Saint Charles Borromeo. It was radically enlarged in 1975, with a change of orientation. We have no official opening hours.
The Majnoni park, the monument and the theatre
From the square you enter the public Majnoni park, originally the park of the villa, with the Baroque pavilion that came from the park of the Villa Reale in Monza and a monument to the Alpini with panels by the sculptor Giuseppe Abramini. From the park you come out in corso Bartesaghi and after about fifty metres reach the foot of the staircase of the Monumento ai Caduti, designed in 1926 by Giuseppe Terragni: four flights between two rows of cypresses up to a shrine and a terrace.
You then climb into via Crotto Rosa. After about 140 metres on the right is one of the entrances of the Teatro Licinium, the open-air theatre of 1928, opposite Villa Candiani, built between 1880 and 1890 and now owned by the Comune. Camminacittà also points out, at number 6, the Crotto Rosa, a four-storey building put up around 1850 by the painter Pietro Rosa as a theatre, then a luxury hotel-restaurant until the early 1950s and today an events venue. From here, on the left, you see the Pian d’Erba with lakes Alserio and Pusiano.
Erba Alta and Villa Ceriani
The road narrows and becomes cobbled: this is the core of Erba Alta. At number 11 the palace formerly of the Counts Archinto, feudal lords of Erba, from 1647 to 1799 a pretorial seat; then via Cavour and via Chiesa Molinari, with Villa Le due Torrette, villa Hayez (the country house of the painter Francesco Hayez, at number 13), piazza Castello, where already before 1500 stood the castle of Erba, and palazzo Chiesa Molinari. Camminacittà presents them from outside; Villa Le due Torrette is a B&B and events venue, and some small squares are private property.
The route then descends along via Foscolo towards Crevenna, with a view of the Cornizzolo, the Corni di Canzo and the Grigne. For about forty metres, Camminacittà warns, the road has no pavement. You arrive at Villa Ceriani, designed at the end of the 18th century by Gianluca Gavazzi della Somaglia for the Ceriani family: U-shaped plan, rusticated doorway, grand staircase, English-style garden. Since 1977 it has housed the Civico Museo di Erba.
The museum is closed and the villa has been a building site. The restoration, of about 5 million euros funded by the PNRR, began in June 2024; according to La Provincia di Como (9 March 2026) the site was to be dismantled in May 2026, three months late, and the villa would not reopen before autumn, because the museum had to be re-set. According to Prima Como (10 September 2026) the museum stays closed for the whole 2026-2027 school year, to reopen with a new display. We have not checked the villa’s present state.
A little to the south is Villa Amalia, where Ugo Foscolo stayed and which Camminacittà names in connection with via Foscolo.
Practical information
- Source of the data. Lengths, times, elevation changes and surfaces come from Camminacittà’s path 1 and its four stages. This guide offers no GPS track.
- Cautions. For almost every stage Camminacittà notes steps, thresholds, bollards, road crossings and, on the stretch towards Villa Ceriani, a section along the road edge.
- Getting there. Camminacittà mentions ASF buses and the Trenord station in piazza Padania; halfway you pass stops for the C99 (Erba circular) and the C40 (Como-Erba-Lecco): check the timetables. Parking near the start.
- Openings. Santa Maria Nascente and Sant’Eufemia: hours not verified (Sant’Eufemia «generally open» according to Camminacittà). Teatro Licinium: entrances normally closed (Camminacittà). Civic museum closed.
Sources
- Camminacittà, Erba, path 1: Il Cammino delle Grazie
- Camminacittà, Erba 1, stage 1, stage 2, stage 3 and stage 4
- La Provincia di Como, Erba, i lavori a Villa Ceriani sono ormai completati (9 March 2026)
- Prima Como, «Imparare al museo», tante le proposte per le scuole (10 September 2026)
- The sources for each stop are on their own pages.