“We travel for romance, we travel for architecture, and we travel to be lost” – Ray Bradbury …Well, how about spending a week enjoying the most suggestive places on of the shores the Ticino River?
About the City:
Sesto Calende is one of the nearest destinations for those of you who are going to take part in the universal exhibition Expo 2015. Sesto Calende offers landscapes, culture, history, good food and fun for everybody! Whether you like to relax, walk, ride a bike or discover our history or the artistic and natural beauty, here you’ll find many tips and information for your excursions.
Sesto Calende is a lively town center, nicely located in the centre of green morainic depression of glacial origin where the Ticino River, which crosses the area, leaves Lake Maggiore and flows into the Po River. Monte Rosa that frames the view is always a fascinating sight. Sesto Calende has a lot to offer: a Civic Archaeological Museum, churches of the Romanesque period, a walk in its old and charming village, its elegant shops, the hospitality and the quality of its restaurants and bars, the characteristic “Punt da Féer” a bridge over the Ticino. It’s also very interesting to discover picturesque sites along the lake shores in the districts of Sant’Anna and Lisanza or have a walk through the green and lovely places of Cocquo, San Giorgio, Lentate, Oriano and Oneda. There are, as well, places that still retain the charm of ancient eras such as “Sasso da Preja Büja” or places that bring adults and children together, in nature, outdoor walks, games and fun in the Ticino Regional Park, which is so rich in natural beauty that it is recognized by UNESCO.
Sesto Calende is very close to the Lake of Comabbio, the Lake of Monate, the Lake of Varese and the Lake of Orta, so you can plan to visit them with easy and pleasant daytrips to enjoy some more fun and relaxation during your holiday.
The evenings in Sesto Calende are often enlivened by festivals and events that turn the night into magical moments and romantic atmosphere along the sweet river Ticino.
Find out about transport:
You can easily reach Sesto Calende by railway, using local and international trains, as well as by car driving along the Highways A8 or A26.
http://www.comune.sesto-calende.va.it/i-servizi/trasporti-locali/
http://www.prosestocalende.it/
Private Taxi:
Astori Company phone number 0331 921661
Furlan Company: phone number 0331.923575
Things to do:
GEOTOURISTIC GUIDED TOURS IN SESTO CALENDE AND SURROUNDING AREA
Sesto Calende Civic Museum of Archaeology, San Donato Abbey, Preja Buia Rock and the Oratory of San Vincenzo
Meeting point: 9.00 am at the Sesto Calende Civic Museum of Archaeology, Piazza Mazzini, near the library;
The guided tour of the museum takes about 45 minutes followed by a further guided excursion to the San Donato Abbey (0,7 km – 15 min) which includes a visit to this church built in Romanesque style lasting a further 45 minutes. The tour then continues for an external visit of the Oratory of San Vincenzo (1,3 km proceeding to the large glacial erratic “Sass de Preja Buia”, declared a regional natural monument (about 45 min).
Way back in about 30 min.
Tour time: about 3,30 hours
Arrival: 13.30 Sesto Calende
Features of theme trail: geo-archaeology (raw and stone building materials – landscape evolution across the centuries), historical references concerning the colonisation of these territories from the Bronze Age to the High Middle Ages, the Celtic World, the Culture of Golasecca, Romanesque style, different flora and fauna from the river valley to the Morainic Hills.
Difficulty: moderate
Prices: half-day Guide 120 € (as set by the tariff of Lombard Park of the Ticino Valley); Ticket 1 or 2 € for the visit to the Museum.
To book: Cristiano Nericcio, mobile number + 39 338.3763998
Mini-cruise on the river followed by a tour on foot
Sesto Calende Civic Museum of Archaeology, the towpath of Ticino River, the Necropolis of Monsorino
Meeting point: 9.30 am at the IAT Tourist Office of Sesto Calende, Viale Italia 6, Piazza Garibaldi on the river side;
Mini-cruise on the river to the Miorina locality (about half an hour). Landing and walking: viewing the Vernome traditional fishpond and Miorina dam; the easy climb begins with the cart-track leading to the Morainic Hill where we find the Necropolis of Monsorino (about 15 – 20 minutes for the visit). Way back along the towpath of the Ticino River in about 1 hour (3 km) on a flat dirt road that leads to the final asphalt road.
Tour time: about 3,30 hours
Arrival: 13.30 Sesto Calende
Features of theme trail: the towpath of Ticino River (flora fauna and history), river dynamics (floods, lake and river levels, gauges,…), the Culture of Golasecca, the cromlechs found in the Necropolis of Monsorino, the Morainic Hills (origin, flora and fauna), the Miorina dam and the traditional fishpond, seen from the riverside.
Difficulty: none, only a small slope to the Necropolis.
Prices: half-day Guide 120 € (as set by the tariff of Lombard Park of the Ticino Valley); mini-cruise 4 €, Ticket 1 or 2 € for the visit to the Museum.
To book: Cristiano Nericcio, mobile number + 39 338.3763998
Sesto Calende Civic Archaeological Museum – Life 3000 Years Ago
The Museum has been set up in the 19th century Town Hall in Piazza Mazzini and it offers a rich collection of over a thousand pieces, from 300 B.C. to the Early Middle Ages.
From the more ancient period come some functional and decorative objects found in tombs nested in natural grottos facing the lake, in Arolo of Leggiuno (VA)
These are followed by finds of the early Iron Age from the culture of Golasecca (the name deriving from the location of the first discoveries), which arrived in the Mediterranean world and the area of the Transalpine Celtic principalities, the Etruscan one in particular, following that important thoroughfare of communication represented by the Ticino River and Lake Maggiore. A situation that created one of the major demographic concentrations in the north of Italy between the 8th and the 6th centuries B.C.
Funeral aspects are widely, it is possible to approach the world of magical / religious beliefs, also with the tombs of people of high social standing like the Tomb of Tripode, attributed to an important female figure dating from the beginning of the 5th century B.C.
Complementary objects reveal the most antique declaration in the area of the Alpine foothills of the use of alphabetical characters borrowed from the area of central Italy and dating from the first decades of the 6th century B.C.
Objects of practical domestic and craftsman use come from the inhabitants living along the banks of the river.
It is also possible to enjoy two important private collections, known as the Bellini and the Mattana Collections, which document the phases of research and antique collecting of the early 20th century.
From the monastic church of S. Donato of Sesto Calende come some plutei and pillars decorated with interlacing that show an interesting mixture of decorative elements of a Germanic influence and others of latter-day antique traditions and that date from around the first half of the 9th century.
The Civic Museum of Sesto Calende is part of the System of Archaeological Museums of the Province of Varese (Simarch) and in the museum network of the Lombardy Early Middle Ages (5th-11th centuries).
Parco Ticino
http://www.parks.it/parco.ticino.lombardo/Eindex.php
Food and drinks
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurants-g664212-Sesto_Calende_Lake_Maggiore_Lombardy.html
Market on Wensday
http://www.comune.sesto-calende.va.it/la-citta/il-mercat/
Maneggio
Ride a hourse: Centro Ippico Sestese mobile number +39 348.2449402
Rent a boat
Sesto Nautica, mobile number +39 347.2298564
Where to stay
http://www.prosestocalende.it/
Shopping:
Il Raviolo di Sesto – La casa della Pasta Fresca
Il Veleno liquor – Olearo wine Shop
Le farine (flours) per polenta – Azienda Agricola Cascina Molino
Meteo
http://www.astrogeo.va.it/meteo.htm
City Map
http://www.comune.sesto-calende.va.it/i-servizi/trasporti-locali/
City Information Centre
Get friendly, multilingual advice on everything there is to be seen and done in Sesto Calende at IAT Tourist Office of Sesto Calende located in Viale Italia n. 6 on the river side.
Nel cuore dell`anfiteatro morenico del Verbano, in terra lombarda ma sul confine con il Piemonte, Sesto Calende sorge nel punto esatto in cui il Ticino esce dal Lago Maggiore per riprendere il suo cammino verso il Po.
La natura è stata generosa con questi luoghi offrendo un paesaggio di grande bellezza, tra lago, colline e montagne. Il Monte Rosa che incornicia il panorama è ogni volta uno spettacolo affascinante. La valle del Ticino, tutelata e valorizzata dall’istituzione del Parco Regionale, è un patrimonio di ricchezze naturalistiche di valore assoluto, riconosciuto anche dall’UNESCO.
Il racconto della storia di Sesto Calende, dall’età del ferro ad oggi, è la conferma della sua peculiare posizione geografica. Le raccolte del Museo Civico, nella parte storica e archeologica dedicata alla cultura di Golasecca, offrono la possibilità di approfondire questo percorso, che può proseguire con la visita della città. Dalle chiese del periodo romanico, alle vestigia tardo-medievali presenti in diverse frazioni, dal nucleo storico affacciato sul fiume al caratteristico ponte di ferro.
Negli ultimi decenni, Sesto Calende ha poi attraversato importanti cambiamenti nell’economia, nella società e nel modo di essere della sua gente: le vecchie fabbriche storiche del vetro e dell’aeronautica hanno chiuso i battenti, ma l’attività economica ha trovato nuovo sviluppo in altri settori dell’industria, dei servizi e del commercio. Ed è soprattutto la sua vocazione turistica ad essere destinata a crescere.
Vicinissima al Lago di Comabbio, al Lago di Monate, al Lago di Varese e al Lago d’Orta, Sesto Calende è inserita in un contesto assai piacevole e vivibile che offre innumerevoli possibilità di svago per il tempo libero.
Il gran numero di piccoli ristoranti e bar consente di passare momenti di relax assaporando piatti tipici lombardi e lacustri, sorseggiando un aperitivo, una bibita o gustando un gelato. Le serate a Sesto Calende, spesso allietate da manifestazioni ed eventi, si possono trasformare in momenti magici grazie all’atmosfera romantica e dolce del fiume Ticino e dei suoi locali dove qualità e cortesia sono componenti fisse.
Per maggiori informazioni:
http://www.comune.sesto-calende.va.it/
