A Little Trip Back in Time at Castel San Pietro near Mendrisio

Wednesday March 13th, 2019 -- Our trip to the Southernmost part of Switzerland was a foray into Spring... to see if it's really on its way. Plus this was really, really the only spot with sunshine... Even here in the South there was a point where we passed a distinctive line of clouds into the sunshine.

Not yet green, but lots of colour starting to show: Magnolias are actually already shedding their petals, and if you look carefully, there are little bursts of colour everywhere...

Originally, we wanted to start higher up, at a place called Sagno, to close the "link" for hikes we've done previously. But the bus driver left Mendrisio station late (no reason, just chatting with another bus driver) and an old lady who got on along the way couldn't find the change to buy her ticket.... so we missed our connecting bus. But no big deal, we just started from there in Morbio Superiore, and headed down into the Breggia Gorge, which forms the lower part of the Muggio Valley and where the rocks that break the surface are millions of years old. 

On the other side of the gorge at Castel San Pietro is the Red Church (Chiesa Rossa), possibly named so because of its colour, but perhaps because of a Romeo/Juliet type of scenario which took place there in 1390, where a revengeful family murdered all the members of the other one as they celebrated Christmas Mass.  History.... repeating itself over and over.

After a fancy lunch of homemade pasta at a renovated estate farm, the rest of the afternoon was spent walking along the mountainside, checking out villages with narrow alleyways, and ending with a tour of Mendrisio's old churches before returning to the station, where we had our standard dessert at a Gelateria, which really marks the end of the tour...


*** Oh, and after the fact I found out there is a valuable Serassi organ in the Church in Castel San Pietro, which we did not visit, so this will require another trip. Where we will also request the key to the Chiesa Rossa, to view "one of the richest series of Gothic Frescoes in Canton Ticino".

From Morbio Superiore: Looking across the Breggia Gorge to Castel San Pietro on the right and the Chiesa Rossa on the left. And you can see all the way to the Valais Alps at the back the highest mountains in the Swiss Alps

The "Red Church" (Chiesa Rossa - This structure is 675 Years Old!) sits on the edge of a cliff above the Breggia Gorge

Down at the bottom of the Breggia Gorge are the remains of the old mill. The diagonal stone slabs are over a million years old.

A pleasant quiet place to have a coffee break, in the Breggia Gorge where the excavating power of the river has uncovered rocks over 80 million years old!

And little bits of colour everywhere

On the other side of the Gorge is the Chiessa Rossa, where lots of blood was shed on Christmas Eve 1390. The Church is locked because of the valuable fresco paintings inside

From the location of the Chiesa Rossa, we can see across the Breggia Gorge to Morbio Superiore where we started our excursion. We actually wanted to start higher on the right. But one day soon we will walk across that ridge at the back, which actually is along the border with Italy

The parish church in Castel San Pietro (Sant'Eusebio) contains a rare Serassi Organ

When we were in Castel San Pietro last time they were renovating this this very old farm estate. It is now a fancy restaurant and hotel with its own wine production, so we had lunch here. Looks like a museum. Pasta was home-made. And I love when the menu is a chalk-board placed next to your table.

A very nice lunch at Ai Cuntitt in Castel San Pietro

From the Estate, a view over the cemetery in Castel San Pietro

And a zoomed view of the Valais Alps 100k to the West, the highest peaks on Swiss ground

Maybe next time we will try a different restaurant, this one is less fancy but rustic

The blooming magnolias are a pleasure!

Up on the hill, the next church to visit (also locked).

 

Behind the little hill at the back on the right is where we actually wanted to start our hike.

The streets are very narrow. You always hope no one is coming in the other direction!

Lots of interesting alleyways and passages to discover

This beautiful church which we did not visit was at a place where we decided to head down to Mendrisio

Across the city is this very old structure, perched at the top of the cliff. You have to try to imagine it in the Middle Ages, without all the modern buildings around it.

Across the rooftops of the historical center of Mendrisio (Borgo)

We popped into two of the old churches, San Giovanni Battista (1722/1733) and Santa Maria in Borgo (1518). Always such artful interiors

One of many interesting courtyards to peek into

These ladies were a hoot. They weren't going to move their car for us to get through. "No problem" they said, "There is lots of room to squeeze by!" . Which there wasn't.

The main church in Mendrisio, Chiesa dei Santi Cosma e Damiano. It has a dome on the top which you can't see from this angle. 

The piazza in front of the Church

Always beautiful here in the South with the palm trees and the early blooming trees

And finishing off with a very yummy, very large serving of Gelato near the train station!

Our "short" hike today, only 8.5 km. We wanted to start in Sagno, bottom right on the map. That would have added the missing kilometers to make our regular 10-12!

We have done many hikes in this area, the Southernmost part of Switzerland. We have walked through the vineyards and the Breggia Gorge, and in the Muggio Valley. I really wanted to start in Sagno and walk down to Morbio Superiore to close that gap, but the bus was late leaving Mendrisio station, and didn't make the short connection in Morbio.

This area is in the southernmost part of Switzerland, very near the border to Italy.

190 Million Years of Earth History in the Breggia Gorge

(This post made on January 24, 2025)

Saturday February 20, 2016 – Spring is taking a long time coming this year, and in the Ticino you can usually find milder weather. (Except just two weeks after we came to this place, it snowed here as well).

The main goal of this trip was to visit the National Park in the Breggia Gorge, of special interest for its geological and paleontological heritage: Thanks to the river's natural excavation process, rocks from geological periods across several hundreds of millions of years have been exposed. The thought of how old this is truly breathtaking. 

Additionally, the first part of the hike, starting in Mendrisio was through the vineyards of this southern part of Switzerland, passing through Castel San Pietro before we descended into the gorge. The section through the vineyards was along a trail called “Man and Grapevine” with information about the wine industry. 

We ended the hike in Balerna, at the south end of the gorge.

We always pass this castle (Castello Grande) on our way to the Italian Border. The lighting was pretty this morning (10 a.m.)

As the train heads south to the Ceneri Pass, this view is to the west to the mountains on the west side of Lago Maggiore. 

Starting in Mendrisio at 11:00, we followed Trail no.52 "Sentiero Lago di Lugano" (Lake Lugano Trail) to Castel San Pietro.  

We started our hike at about 11:00 a.m. in Mendrisio, walking through the vineyards to Castel San Pietro, where we first went to look at the "Pink Chapel", and then descended into the the Breggia Gorge. We got to the train station in Balerna at about 3:30 p.m. 

Walking through the vineyards of the Ticino, Switzerland. This is near the start of our walk in Mendrisio.

Heading up the hill, we get this fantastic view north to the summit of Monte San Salvatore (with the communication tower on the left), and the mountains near the Magadino plain. 

Walking through the vineyards of the Ticino, Switzerland. Placards give information about the production of grapes and wine in this region. There are 3800 growers managing 1000 hectares of vineyards in the Ticino, Switzerland

Clay tile roofs and palm trees are typical of this region!

It's always fun watching the cats in the villages and the meadows!

Heading through an old part of a village called Corteglia. 

More vineyards around Corteglia. The view is toward the Muggio Valley, where we are headed. 

A row of old houses. 

Decorations on the wall of the Swiss Winery in Corteglia called the Parravicini Vitivinicoltori. The motto is "Fruit of life and the labour of man".  

Having a peek into the village church. We were here at shortly after noon. 

Just before reaching the center of Castel San Pietro, we passed the gates of the cemetery. 

A sign indicates that we are close to the "Park of the Breggia Gorges". 

First a quick walk around Castel San Pietro, to the village church of course.  

This is the "Chiesa di Sant Eusebio" in Castel San Pietro. 

We sat on the church's wall for our picnic lunch at about 12:30, with this view over the southern part of Switzerland, near the border with Italy. The mountains in the back are in Italy. 

An interesting-looking chimney!

Higher up on the mountain above the town of Castel San Pietro stands another large church called "Chiesa Sant'Antonino"

At the junction of the path to the Chiesa Rossa (no photos?) and the other trail into the gorge, we saw this interesting line of houses with olive trees. 

Some interesting, and surely very old, olive trees.

At 1:30 p.m. we reach the junction that leads us down into the Breggia Gorge. 

A bridge along the trail heading into the Breggia Gorge. 

Now we have reached the Breggia River. The bridge is called Punt da Canaa.

Placards along the way inform about the history of the rock in the Breggia Gorge. In the description, it tells us that this is the oldest part of the park. The rock is called Moltrasio Limestone, is 4000 m thick and basically constitutes the entire Monte Generoso massif.  

This is the oldest part of the park. This rock is called Moltrasio Limestone and is 195 million years old (about 4000m thick on the Earth's crust, of which we can observe the top 100 meters here).

Balancing on the edge is an erratic rock, totally different than the other older layers. A fault in the limestone is also visible here. 

(The Director of the Breggia National Park had inquired to use one of my photos in a flyer they were putting together. See at the end of this album).

This is the site of an old mill

More interesting striations. This rock is called Lombardian Ammonitico Rosso, and according to a nearby placard, the deposit is 15 m thick, and apparently the most interesting rock formation in the park.   

A cool wooden bridge crosses the gorge high above the river. 

Wooden bridge crosses the gorge. 

From the bridge we can see the trail we have to descend, a cool set of steps!

At this junction, one trail heads back out of the gorge to Castel San Pietro. We are continuing on to the train station in Balerna, 45 minutes from here. At this point it is 2:20 p.m. 

An interesting section through the gorge.

An interesting section through the gorge.

20 minutes later we came across another very interesting rock striation: A tectonic fold, directly related to the formation of the Alps. 

The road and trail passed right "through" that house!

Just before leaving the gorge, we come to the old Ghitello Mill, with this cute waterwheel. The old mill buildings here are from the end of the 16th Century, and are used for demonstrations as well as housing administration offices for the Breggia Gorge Park. 

Arriving at the Balerna train station at 15:25. 

9-km walk from Mendrisio to Balerna via Castel San Pietro and the Breggia Gorge National Park (in Ticino, Switzerland).

This is a screenshot of a section of the flyer put together by the Director of the National Park. He had requested to use one of my photos, which is the one on the bottom right. 

A flyer about the Breggia Gorges uses one of my photos, bottom right.