Lecco

Sister cities

• Szombathely
• Mytishchi
• Igualada
• Overijse
• Vidin
• Mâcon

History

In 1988, excavations of the Civic Museums of Lecco led to the discovery of a village of the Culture of Golasecca (first Iron Age) at the Rocca di Chiuso. The settlement of the Golasecchiani Celts in the area precedes the arrival of the Celts by more than 4 centuries. In 2005, other excavations of the Civic Museums of Lecco and the University of Bergamo unearthed the oldest metallurgical production site in the entire Alpine arc (2nd century B.C. – 1st century B.C.) at piani d'Erna. As the nodal point of several streets that put Lombardy in communication with the territories of Oltralpe, the region becomes the scene of clashes and decisive battles. The fortified system of Lecco (Castrum Leuci) became the seat, with the Carolingian, of an important Committee entrusted to the Attonid family. In 960, Lecco was submitted to the lordship of the Archbishop of Milan. Throughout the Middle Ages and the Modern Age, the name of Lecco did not indicate an inhabited center but included the whole area between the lake and Valsassina. Lecco was a polycentric settlement, in which the various districts were closely interdependent, each with functional and economic specialization. In 1117, a ten-year war broke out pitting many villages of the lakes of Como and Lugano against Milan, of which Lecco was an ally. The inhabitants of Lecco took part in the battle and in March 1125, Como had to capitulate and the victors set it on fire. Later, Lecco became involved in the struggles between the powerful Milanese families Visconti and Torriani (the owners of the Valsassina territories). In 1296, the struggles led Matthew I Visconti to destroy the village giving orders that it would never rise again. Despite the destruction, Lecco was rebuilt and reconquered by Azzone Visconti. Throughout the…

Geography

«That branch of the Lake of Como, which turns toward the south between two unbroken chains of mountains, presenting to the eye a succession of bays and gulfs, formed by their jutting and retiring ridges, suddenly contracts itself between a headland to the right and an extended sloping bank on the left, and assumes the flow and appearance of a river.» The municipal territory covers an area of about . It is located in a wide valley bordered by the Prealps to the east and Lake Lario to the west, at the point where Lake Lario ends and the Adda river resumes its course and then re-expands into Lake Garlate. The territory is crossed by three main streams: the Gerenzone, the Calderone and the Bione. The mountains that surround the natural, wide valley are: to the north Monte Coltignone and San Martino, to the east mount Due Mani, Pizzo d'Erna and Resegone, to the south the Magnodeno, to the west, on the right bank of the Adda River, is Mount Barro. On the Adda river, near the Azzone Visconti bridge, there is the small Viscontea Island. The territory has a very variable altitude distribution: it ranges from above sea level in the lake area to the maximum altitude of above the sea level of Mount Resegone and this condition offers the city three different areas characterized by different morphologic and climatic characteristics. The hydrography consists mainly of the stretch of the Adda river leaving the eastern branch of Lake Como and a series of streams, with their tributaries, which originate in the mountain range. Lecco is delimited, to the north rises the massif of Monte Coltignone, mainly of limestone and dolomia of Esino, directly overlooking the lower peaks, such as Monte San Martino (Lecco), Monte Melma, and Monte Albano. To the east, the Resegone group, which,…