In the Acquate district, on Via Tonio e Gervasio — named after the novel’s two thugs — a small wayside shrine marks the spot where, according to Alessandro Manzoni, the whole story of The Betrothed begins.
History
It is here that Manzoni sets the encounter between Don Abbondio and Don Rodrigo’s thugs, in the first chapter of the novel, on the evening of 7 November 1628: returning from his usual walk, the priest glances at the shrine as he always does and sees “something he was not expecting, and would rather not have seen” — the two thugs warning him not to marry Renzo and Lucia. The shrine visible today is a reconstruction, with a plaque bearing the original quotation from the novel.
What to see
A plaque with the passage from the novel dedicated to this very encounter, a symbolic starting point for anyone retracing on foot the Manzonian sites of the Acquate district, together with the nearby traditional house of Lucia.
Getting there
The shrine stands in the Acquate district, along the route of the Manzonian Lecco itinerary, east of the centre of Lecco.
Practical information
The shrine is outdoors and freely open to visit at any time.