Until31Jan 2027
Marco and Rosa De Marchi: a villa, a collection, a love story
Villa Monastero remembers Marco and Rosa De Marchi, who bequeathed it for public use, ninety years after Marco's death.
Villa Monastero, Casa Museo
Varenna
Fiumelatte
Varenna's stream runs from its source to the lake in about 250 metres, with foaming white water and a flow linked to rain and snow.
- Visit duration
- 30 min – 1 h
- Booking
- Not required
- Area
- Centro Lago
- Best season
- Spring · Summer
- Andrzej Otrębski · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Andrzej Otrębski · CC BY-SA 3.0
Why go
The Fiumelatte comes out of a cave in the rock above the hamlet of Varenna that bears its name and runs down to the lake in about two hundred and fifty metres, white with foam: hence the name, “milk river”.
It is one of the outlets of the karst system of the northern Grigna, whose waters flow inside the mountain; dye poured into the caves of the massif has proved the connection. The Fiumelatte is a temporary spring: it usually flows from March to October, comes to life with the snowmelt and after heavy rain, and acts as the overflow of the Fonte Uga, a spring that never runs dry. Flow and dry spells can also occur outside this period, depending on rainfall and drought. Leonardo described it in the Codex Atlanticus under the name “Fiumelaccio”. A path from Varenna leads to the source, where you can see the mouth of the cave.
- The karst spring and cave entrance above the hamlet of Fiumelatte.
- Leonardo noted it in the Codex Atlanticus.
Getting there
- From Piazza San Giorgio in Varenna, follow Via Roma to the cemetery. Steps on the left lead to the hillside path, parallel to the lake, that reaches the spring.
Accessibility
- The path to the spring starts at the top of a flight of steps and then runs along the hillside above the lake.
On the map
© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
What's on nearby
Events within a few kilometres, on now or coming up.
Nearby: places, experiences, services
Distances as the crow flies.
Sources and credits
- Maps, parking, services and distances: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
- Freely licensed photographs: authors and licences under Photograph credits.
Sources and credits
- Maps, parking, services and distances: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
- Freely licensed photographs: authors and licences under Photograph credits.