Chiuso
The district of Manzoni’s Unnamed
Maggianico is a district where there is still the atmosphere of stillness and harmony that, at the end of the nineteenth century, made it a favourite destination for intellectuals linked to the Milanese movement known as the Scapigliatura, literally, the unkempt or dishevelled, in the tradition of the Bohemians. Drawn by the atmosphere evoked by the spa waters of Barco, poets like Antonio Ghislanzoni and Vespasiano Bignami and musicians such as Carlo Gomes, Amilcare Ponchielli and Enrico Petrella used to meet here and share moments of delight and creativity. Many of them built magnificent villas that still dot the district.
It lies to the extreme south of Lecco in a position clearly separated from the rest of the city on the slopes of Monte Magnodeno near Lake Garlate. The rivers Cif and Tuf cross the district and flow into the Lake.
A legendary event gave rise to the curious nickname of the inhabitants of Maggianico.
According to the tradition, on the 30th of November, the day of the celebration of Saint Andrew, the patron saint of the parish church of Maggianico, chestnuts were usually distributed to the people. At dawn, the district’s inhabitants came together in the parvis of the church of Sant’Andrea to await the rain of chestnuts that arrived from “heaven”: in fact, during the night. The church’s main bell had been filled with chestnuts which, on ringing the first Ave Maria, were tipped onto the festive crowd.
The origin of the name: some scholars hold that Maggianico derives from the name “Magius”.
Quarters: Maggianico Alta, Barco and Missirano.
Inhabitants’ nickname: “Belegott”, cooked chestnuts.
Not to be missed: a walk in the park of Villa Gomes and a visit to the neoclassical church of San Rocco.
