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Mandello del Lario

Torre dei Lafranconi, Rongio

The thirteenth-century tower house in the hillside hamlet of Rongio, above Mandello, given to the Lafranconi family: bare stone, small windows and arrow slits, once taller than every house around it, for defence and for keeping watch.

Visit duration
10–15 min
Booking
Not required
Area
Lecco Branch
The stone tower with its tiled roof above the houses of Rongio, with the lake and the mountains of the far shore behind.Riccardo Beretta · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Maurizio Moro5153 · CC BY-SA 4.0

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The stone tower with its tiled roof above the houses of Rongio, with the lake and the mountains of the far shore behind.

Riccardo Beretta · CC BY-SA 4.0

Why go

The Torre dei Lafranconi stands in the hillside hamlet of Rongio, a little above the village.

It once rose above the other houses; today it is surrounded by recent buildings. It dates from the thirteenth century and was assigned to the Lafranconi family, whose name it bears. Like the other tower houses, it very probably served for defence and as a lookout. It has the classic square plan, with fronts of bare stone, small windows and arrow slits. There are two entrances: one uphill, to the half-basement, and one downhill, to the first floor, reached by an outside stair.

  • A medieval tower house still standing in a hillside hamlet.
  • One of the tower houses on Mandello's hills, with the Torre del Barbarossa at Maggiana.

Highlights

  • The bare stone fronts with small windows and arrow slits
  • The two entrances, uphill and downhill
  • The outside stair to the first floor

Getting there

  • It stands in Contrada dei Lafranconi, in the hamlet of Rongio, on the hill above Mandello.

Accessibility

  • The tower is not accessible to disabled visitors.

On the map

Explore the lake
Mandello del LarioAbbadia LarianaTorre dei Lafranconi, Rongio

© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL

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