Rugged peaks tower up, weathered rock in a bizarre shape, coarse dolomite formed by nature, which young Italian mountaineers like the legendary Riccardo Cassin tried their hand at as early as the 1930s. Denti della Vecchia is the name of the historically important climbing area, the highest point of which reaches 1491 meters. What comes off the lips in Italian is not very flattering in the German translation: the “teeth of the elderly”. The mountain range with the butts, which are pictorially compared to the incomplete, brittle chewing tools of old people, nestles on the border with Italy. The smugglers, who used to travel the paths between the rocks with coffee and cigarettes, certainly didn’t have time to look at the nearby Lake Lugano.
You can also find spikes in Bellinzona, the capital of Ticino and the starting point of our multi-day hiking tour in the lowest tip of the southernmost Swiss canton. Here, however, the stone teeth are evenly designed and part of a medieval bulwark that has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000: the three castles of Bellinzona. The fortifications from the 13th century were built by the Dukes of Milan as a barricade against the Confederates pushing south. Around 1500, the residents sided with the Swiss, which turned the tables.
The mighty Castelgrande sits enthroned on a gneiss rock left by the last ice age in the valley of the Ticino river. Within the crenellated walls stretches a meadow on which a small soccer game is just as allowed as saying yes to your loved one. The architect Aurelio Galfetti, who restored and carefully converted the stronghold, gave the residents of Bellinzona an urban park with the greenery. On the hillside overlooking the old town, the tower of the Castello di Sasso Corbaro stands out among the vegetation. A little below is the third castle, the compact Castello di Montebello, which houses an archaeological museum – and also invites you to spice up your own salami.
The bread tree of the poor
Not far from there, an old chestnut tree spreads its gnarled branches. It was once the bread tree of the poor and was considered a staple food for centuries. In the Middle Ages, every Ticino satisfied his hunger with around one hundred kilograms of chestnuts a year, as boiled or roasted fruit or in the form of bread, sweets, flat cakes and polenta made from chestnut flour. In the meantime, consumption has shrunk to around one kilo per person.
Up to an altitude of 800 meters, the hiker encounters the chestnuts, which were cultivated in 18 varieties a hundred years ago, even today at every turn. From the village of Isone we follow the white-red-white markings through dense deciduous forest with beech, ash, chestnut, oak and birch trees before the path crosses the Via dei Sapori, the path of taste and aromas. This links alpine pastures and huts that offer regional delicacies. Katya Mazaro manages Alpe Zalto. The 40-year-old, who delivers the milk from 120 goats to the cheese dairy, knows what tastes good. “A Ticino specialty is a three-month-old kid that is roasted in the oven at 200 degrees for an hour and a half,” she says, jabbing her index finger into her cheek – the typical Italian gesture when something tastes particularly good. She serves us different kinds of hard and soft cheese, deer and wild boar that her hunting husband has killed. At the weekend, polenta is on the table.
If you ask about Ticino dishes that no palate would want to be without, hiking guide Antonio Borra gets to it: risotto with mushrooms, ossobucco with risotto, brasato (pot roast) with polenta, game with chestnuts. The cultural and civil engineer knows every mountain and every route here. He has been going out on Sundays since he was in school. “If I’m not hiking on a Sunday, I’m not feeling well,” says the 68-year-old nature lover. He also recommends a detour to Monte San Giorgio, which rises to almost 1100 meters between the two southern arms of Lake Lugano. The mountain holds a treasure from the past that has been unearthed and studied by paleontologists since the 1850s: 240-million-year-old fossils that testify to Triassic marine life. Those interested can immerse themselves in this world in the fossil museum in Meride. The smallest prepared find is the spore of a plant with a diameter of 0.03 millimeters.
We move towards Tesserete, accompanied by a few curious horses. Half an hour before the stage destination you pass the Bigorio Monastery, the oldest settlement of the Capuchins in Switzerland. Biscuits, liqueurs, honey and essences made from medicinal plants and herbs are offered for sale here. The best way to relax a tired body at night is to take it to the Hotel Tesserete, an Art Nouveau building steeped in history with twelve rooms and a delightful garden where palm trees greet guests. Before the inn, which has been run by the Besomi family for ten years, is horizontal, the appetite pushes into the opposite Ristorante Stazione, where the Besomis have been serving the finest cuisine since 1930, which is rounded off with a glass of Capriasca Merlot from the village.
Over 2000 hours of sunshine
Cimadera is the starting point for the 13-kilometer cross-border tour on the ridge with the “teeth of the elderly” mentioned at the beginning. Nobody has to look for a booking here. They gather in vast forests. When the weather is nice and the view is clear – not unusual in Ticino with more than 2000 hours of sunshine a year – Monte Boglia sweetens the ascent to 1516 meters with a view of the Matterhorn peeking out from behind the Monte Rosa massif.
After five hours of pure walking time, the stony path finally descends to the village of Brè – and again over countless steps, which cannot be denied a certain viciousness, up to Monte Brè. From there, the 110-year-old cog railway heads towards the center of Lugano, which ensnares with its Mediterranean flair.
Following the lake promenade, the 63,000 square meter Parco Ciani invites you to stroll under the canopy of trees that are more than a hundred years old. Subtropical plants thrive in a special microclimate, “there’s practically never frost here,” explains the city guide. It takes the nurturing hands of 50 gardeners to maintain the floral splendor of the city’s green lungs.
The third most important financial center of the Confederates, in which people from 163 countries around the world have found a home, presents itself as a mishmash of banks in palaces, piazzi with a Mediterranean atmosphere, centuries-old stone houses and arcades with luxury shops – and a red-bearded original with a black coat and top hat. For more than 30 years, the Hamburg-born Jörg Wolters and his barrel organ have been an integral part of the Lugano cityscape. If you walk along the linden tree promenade along the lake shore, you will inevitably end up in front of the church of Santa Maria degli Angioli with the most important Renaissance work in Switzerland: the fresco painting by Bernardino Luini, a student of Da Vinci, depicts the Passion of Christ.
Eurotrek offers the promising, individual pleasure hike “Ticino Highlights” (7 days/6 nights, luggage transport etc.) between April 30th and October 16th from 869 euros.
Info: eurotrek.ch, myswitzerland.com, swisstravelsystem.com, oebb.at/sparschiene
Source: Nachrichten
