Monte Barro is a limestone-dolomite hill of 922 metres, isolated from the surrounding mountains and facing the upper plain: the first sentinel of the Lombard Prealps above the plain, contained entirely within a regional park.
What to see
The park lies south-west of the Grigne, between the eastern end of Lake Como, Lake Annone, Lake Garlate and the Galbiate saddle. In under 700 hectares live over a thousand plant species, an exceptional richness that the park explains by its place in the Insubrian district, the ice ages and the limestone bedrock; the hill is also a passage for many birds, studied at the Costa Perla ornithological station, an old bird-trapping tower turned scientific observatory. It is a Site of Community Importance in the Natura 2000 network.
There are 44 kilometres of marked trails reaching the main places: the summit and the views over the lakes and Lecco, the Pian Sciresa plateau on the eastern side, the medieval village of Camporeso with the Museo Etnografico dell’Alta Brianza, the Camporeso crag with about 150 equipped routes, Villa Bertarelli in Galbiate, with the Region’s Centro Flora Autoctona, the church of San Michele (18th century, left unfinished) and, at the Eremo, the visitor centre with its panoramic terrace and the late Gothic church of Santa Maria.
History
The most important discovery is at the Piani di Barra: excavations, begun in 1986, have brought to light the largest Gothic-age settlement found so far in Italy (5th-6th century AD), a fortified village with several buildings, among them the so-called Grande Edificio, probably the residence of an important figure of the village. On the south side you can follow a long stretch of the fortification wall, the muraiòò, defending the site, with a tower on each of the three ridges. A second site, on the north-east slope, is Monte Castelletto: an early medieval fortified place with the remains of a tower and a defensive wall, used according to the excavations from at least the 8th century and garrisoned in the 13th by a small force.
The Museo Archeologico del Barro (MAB), at the Eremo, born in 1999 at the end of the excavations, keeps over four hundred finds: coins, pottery, glass, soapstone pots, ornaments, and the Corona Pensile (hanging crown), an object of which very few other examples are known.
Getting there
By car the Eremo is reached from Galbiate along via Monte Barro, which further on becomes via Balassi, and there is room to park in front of the museum. From May to September, however, on Sundays and public holidays traffic stops at the Fornace locality: from there you continue on foot for about half an hour or use the free shuttle from Galbiate. For Pian Sciresa short walks from Lecco, Malgrate and Galbiate are enough. Times, difficulty and trail conditions change with the season and should be checked before setting out (CAI, hut managers, weather forecast).
Practical information
- Museo Archeologico del Barro (museum website, which when consulted on 2 October 2026 still showed the 2025 season): open Saturday and Sunday from 10:30 to 13:30 and from 14:00 to 17:00; free entry on the first Sunday of the month, otherwise 2 euros (1 euro reduced), free up to 5 years and over 65; free audioguides in four languages; guided visits by booking (tel. 366 2380659, educazione@eliante.it). Check the hours before setting out.
- Height: 922 metres (Wikipedia, Wikidata, OpenStreetMap). The territory lies almost entirely in the municipality of Galbiate, which has no page on the site: this page is linked to the neighbouring Malgrate.
Sources
- Parco Monte Barro, the park and Un parco da vivere
- Parco Monte Barro, archaeological area and museum
- Comune di Galbiate, MAB entry and MAB website
- Wikipedia, Monte Barro entry; Wikidata and OpenStreetMap.