The best traffic-free bike rides around Casalzuigno

Passo S. Antonio Vararo / Cuvignone 1,036 m Passage at 1,036 meters above sea level From the South: Cittiglio to the North: Porto Valtravaglia About 200 hairpin bends on asphalt Strada Provinciale 8 https://stradedamoto.it/strade.asp?RicPas=4281

Passo del Monte Cuvignone Via Vararo, Cittiglio / Castelveccana VA The Cuvignone Pass (1,036 m above sea level) is a pass near Vararo, in the Varese area between Valcuvia and Luinese. In cycling, it is known for its demanding climb, which can be tackled from various sides (directly from Cittiglio or Castelveccana, or indirectly after climbing Sant'Antonio or crossing the San Michele Pass). It has been used for training since the time of Alfredo Binda (originally from the area) and offers particularly technical and demanding descents. Ivan Basso also trained there. The pass is also famous in the automotive world, as it has been the most selective timed section of the "ACI Varese Rally" since the 80s, today the "Rally dei Laghi". Even in motorsport, as in cycling, it has been tackled in all directions, and in all directions it has always stood out for its difficulty, consisting of fast sections, others slower but very technical, narrow hairpin bends uphill and downhill – all over a length of about 12/14 km at the discretion of the organizer. Text / Source: wikipedia.org/wiki/Passo_del_Cuvignone https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passo_del_Cuvignone

Before running water arrived in homes, villages had public washhouses where women, often young maids, washed their laundry. They were places of work but also places of socialization: here, people met every day, exchanged news, and spread the typical village gossip. The first washerwomen were forced to wash in rivers, on their knees, and in the open, in all weathers.

a classic from the Varese area. It's worth it.

Beautiful cycle path

Church of S Michele in the footsteps of the Lombards

The bike path is perfect.

Campanile di San Martino di Saltirana, Nasca Bell tower of St. Martin, Nasca, (Castelveccana) In the cemetery of Nasca stands a lonely bell tower made of rough gray stone: this is the remains of the ancient church of San Martino di Saltirana. It must have been a rather small and rustic church, in the Romanesque style like San Giorgio di Sarigo and therefore probably built around the 22nd century. In it the landowners of Saltirana and the inhabitants of a vanished village that then extended into the plain between Saltirana and Canova gathered for their religious functions. This village was destroyed by Nordic soldiers in 1277. The inhabitants, plundered and decimated by the invaders and the ensuing plague, abandoned everything and moved to a nearby hill where they founded Nasca. The church of San Martino fell into disuse. In 1574, during a pastoral visit to the parish church of Travaglia, Saint Charles had his secretary Bascapè record the state of semi-abandonment of San Martino as follows: "The church has rough walls and worked stones; it is without a door..." In August 1581, during one of the repeated visits to the parish, Carlo Borromeo felt the first symptoms of his long and relentless illness: seventeen attacks of tertian fever that imprisoned him in Domo for about a month. As a convalescent, he went on foot to the woods of Sarigo, where he quenched his thirst in a spring that is still called "Fonte di San Carlo". In 1786, by order of the parish priest of Domo, Giovanni Battista, Isabella had the church demolished, keeping only the bell tower. (from the book "Municipality of Castelveccana - a village along the way"). Text / Source: Municipality of Castelveccana https://www.comune.castelveccana.va.it/c012045/zf/index.php/servizi-aggiuntivi/index/index/idtesto/20024