Crowds gather on
Piazza Collegiata for
the popular Saturday
market in Bellinzona.
As we clamber along the crenellated walls of magnificent Castello di Montebello
overlooking Bellinzona and the town’s largest fortification, Castlegrande, it appears that
an event of some magnitude is unfolding below. It is Ticino’s largest and most popular
Saturday market and it isn’t long before we are shouldering our way through narrow
lanes lined with produce stands and food stalls overflowing with the bounty of local
farms, dairies and wineries. A brass band is making oompa-music on Piazza Collegiata
as we pause for coffee and people watching at a sidewalk cafe on the edge of the busy
piazza. Before we finish, a group appears brandishing traditional alphorns, those slender
three-metre long woodwind instruments originally used to call in the cows.
As Christa herds us into a stainless steel lift, installed in the thick stone wall of
Castlegrande during its recent renovation, I can’t help but think how medieval soldiers
clad in heavy armour would have enjoyed this conveyance as they rushed to battle stations
on the walls and towers above. Castlegrande was declared a UNESCO World Heritage
The Alphorn group
performs at every
Site in 2000, and its south wing features an excellent museum and art gallery
market day in while the adjoining arsenal has been converted into an ultra-mod restaurant.
Bellinzona, recalling
the days when the
Although seemingly impregnable under the Dukes of Milan, Bellinzona eventually
horns were reportedly fell to the armies of the Swiss Confederation who in 1503 reclaimed the Canton of Ticino.
sounded to herd the
cows home.
It has remained since as part of Switzerland but with a certain historic and cultural link
The Castlegrande is
to Italy. With some time to spare, Christa suggests we zip a few kilometres north along
a 14th century fortress
that towers over
the N2 motorway to have a look at a pair of important early 12th century Romanesque
Bellinzona. Recently churches. We especially admire the well-preserved frescoes at San Nicolao
restored, it features
a fine restaurant, art
Church in Giornico and at the church of San Pietro e Paolo in nearby Biasca.
gallery and museum.
Castle Montebello
is one of three
fortresses built in
the 13th and 14th
centuries by Milanese
dukes to protect the
Ticino valley.
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