Bellano is best known for the Orrido, the gorge carved by the Pioverna torrent through the heart of the town. But its historic centre — a web of medieval lanes around Via Manzoni — also holds two recently opened museum spaces: a fourteenth-century church turned contemporary art gallery, and a stately palazzo dedicated to one of the best-known painters born on the lake. All three attractions are covered by a combined ticket offered by the Municipality of Bellano, which is exactly what suggests this route.
The Orrido and the Ca’ del Diavol
The starting point is the Orrido di Bellano: a system of walkways suspended above the gorge carved by the Pioverna, with the Ca’ del Diavol, a frescoed tower overhanging the torrent, at the entrance to the ravine. The entrance is on Piazza San Giorgio, next to the Chiesa dei Santi Nazaro e Celso, the town’s parish church.
San Nicolao, from a fourteenth-century church to contemporary art
Climbing towards the centre leads to San Nicolao - Contemporary Art: a religious building documented since 1295, originally linked to a convent of the Umiliati and later deconsecrated, restored in 2024 and today split between temporary exhibitions on the ground floor and Danilo Vitali’s permanent collection of embossed copperwork upstairs.
The Museo Giancarlo Vitali at Palazzo Lorla
The last stop is the Museo Giancarlo Vitali, opened in 2025 in Palazzo Lorla, on Via Manzoni: one hundred works by painter and printmaker Giancarlo Vitali (1929-2018), a native of Bellano, drawn from seventy years of his output.
Nearby: the lakefront
Visitors with more time can continue towards the lake: the Lido di Puncia and Spiaggia di Oro are both in Bellano, as is the Santuario della Madonna delle Lacrime di Lezzeno, the next stop on the Sentiero del Viandante towards Dervio.
Practical information
- All three attractions (Orrido, San Nicolao, Museo Giancarlo Vitali) are covered by a combined ticket; opening hours and prices are kept up to date on discoveringbellano.eu, as they change over the season.
- The Orrido walkway includes stairs and narrow passages, not suitable for strollers; visiting the Ca’ del Diavol alone requires a separate ticket with limited group sizes.
- The walk between the four stops takes place entirely within Bellano’s historic centre, with no significant elevation change.