Location
Valdisotto is a nice mountain place inside the district of Sondrio, very near to Bormio.
Valdisotto has got about 3000 inhabitants, it’s located in the heart of Valtellina Valley and it represents the front door for the mountain landscapes of “Magnifica Terra” (which means Magnificent Land) term used during the Renaissance in order to say Bormio.
Valdisotto is made up of six parts: Cepina, Oga, Santa Lucia, Piatta, Piazza and Tola, all located on different sides of the mountains of the Adda Valley. These are protected and lonely places surrounded by the uncontaminated nature typical of these lands.
Since prehistory the country where Valdisotto is situated has been a gateway for the Alpine passes.
Like the rests say, the street that used to go from the low Valtellina Valley to the Alps used to pass in front of the little Church of San Bartolomeo di Castelaz , the only historical rest that survived at the horrible landslide of the 1987.
Nowadays thank to its well equipped and modern hotel organizations, and thank to its sunny ski slopes located on the S. Colombano and Vallecetta mountains, Valdisotto has the most of its income with tourism.
Moreover the area is well known also for the mineral spring of the famous Levissima water which is bottled and sent all over Italy.
Bormio
Bormio’s territory is inside the National Park of Stelvio and so it has an incredible naturalistic estate. In this area is possible to visit the Natural Reserve of Paluaccio in Oga, inside the district of Valdisotto.
In Valfurva, which is reachable thank to a path marked by the Forni Shelter, you can find the Glaciologico Path of the centenary. The route is about 8km and it goes through the Forni Glacier. This visit gives a way to understand the past and present conditions of the biggest glacier of the Alps.
Bormio is not beautiful only thank to its landscape. We cannot forget that thank to its strategic position, Bormio has hosted people form different places, with different cultures, religions and traditions. Walking through the strict streets of the town you can admire, in the historical centre, a lot of palaces with their old big front doors, their frescos. You can see the Alberti Tower and Tower of the Ore with the municipal bell called “Bajona”.
You can make a particular visit to the Palace de Simoni, dated back to XVIII century, that now is a museum. If you like old churches you can visit the collegiate church of SS. Gervasio and Protasio (XVII century), the Church of S. Vitale (XII century), the church of S. Antonio Abate and the church of the SS. Crocifisso.
The public shows in Bormio are most of all about hand-crafted productions of the area (Mestieri in Piazza) like food and drink products (for example the famous liqueur Braulio and other alcoholic products, the famous smoked sliced cold meat called Bresaola, typical mushrooms, honey and of course cheeses!).
Finally do not forget that Bormio during the winter is one of the best places where you can ski: to confirm this we can tell you that the athletes of the World Cup race a downhill on the ski slopes of Bormio.
