The Cappella degli Alpini on foot from Mezzegra: from our gate to the chapel above Rogaro, through Bonzanigo, Viano and Intignano
Pick Residence Celeste as one of your preferred sources and our articles will show up more often in your Google results.
Many descriptions of the Cappella degli Alpini start in Rogaro, a hamlet of Tremezzo where you can leave the car. From Mezzegra you don't need one: the chapel is the end point of one of the walks that start at the gate of the residence.
Here we describe the way our track goes, with the figures we have and with what we don't know. A word on the name: there is more than one Alpini chapel in the area, and this is the one on the slopes above Rogaro and Intignano.
The route in figures
From the gate to the chapel it is 3.2 kilometres, and that is one way: the last point of the track is the chapel, and you come back the same way. The height difference, meaning the gap between the lowest and the highest point of the track, is 268 metres, and the highest point, at 539 metres, is on the last stretch. That is not the total climb: with the small ups and downs along the way, you climb a little more.
Compared with the walk to the Sacro Monte di Ossuccio, you lose very little height at the start: as far as Bonzanigo the street is almost level between the houses, sloping gently down. After Bonzanigo the mule track starts to climb, but the longest and steepest climb comes in the second half, on the earth path. On the way back it is downhill most of the time, with a few short rises.
The track is calculated on the map and on the elevation model, not recorded with a GPS on foot: it is the same one shown on our trekking page, where it is drawn on the map. We don't give walking times, for the reason explained in the article on choosing your first trail: they depend on your pace more than on the kilometres.
From Bonzanigo to Intignano, through the hamlets
From the gate you follow Via Giulia Brentano to Bonzanigo, a hamlet of Mezzegra: this first stretch, on paved streets between the houses, is the same as the Greenway. Then you climb towards Viano and Intignano, hamlets of Tremezzo, higher up than the lakeside road.
From Bonzanigo the surface turns to stone slabs and then to cobbles: you are on old mule tracks, and between Bonzanigo and Viano you cross a small arched bridge over a stream. It is the same stretch as a walk through the hamlets described by the municipality of Tremezzo in a 2011 guide, which suggested stopping to explore the lanes of Bonzanigo's old centre.
The last stretch and the chapel
After Intignano the track leaves the village streets: it first dips slightly along a small valley, then climbs on an earth path up to the Cappella degli Alpini. This is the steepest part, and along the way you cross a few small streams: after rain the ground gets muddy.
The chapel stands in a very panoramic spot, looking over the middle of the lake. We know little about its history: the 2011 guide from the municipality of Tremezzo says it is dedicated to the "Madonna di Panoort", but who built it and when we have not found in reliable sources, so we don't write it.
Before you set off
In autumn wet leaves are slippery, on the cobbles as on the earth path, and in winter, after a cold night, there can be ice: you need shoes with a sole that grips, and after a day of rain it is worth waiting for the ground to dry.
Between Bonzanigo and Viano the mule track runs close to the route of the Variante della Tremezzina, the new main road under construction. Path closures for the works are decided by the municipality through an ordinance, as happened in the Val Perlana: if you find barriers or no-entry signs, respect them and turn back. Feel free to ask us before you set off, and we will tell you what we know.
How it fits with the rest of your stay
If you still want to climb, there is the Sacro Monte di Ossuccio, another walk that starts at the gate, with the avenue up to the Soccorso sanctuary open. If you would rather walk without climbing, there is the Greenway, the same as your first steps to Bonzanigo: it passes twenty-two metres from here and is far gentler than this climb.
At a glance
- From the gate of the residence to the Cappella degli Alpini above Rogaro: 3.2 km one way, back the same way
- 268 metres of height difference, with the highest point (539 m) on the last stretch; the steepest climb is on the path after Intignano
- Through Bonzanigo, Viano and Intignano: tarmac, then stone slabs and cobbled mule tracks, finally an earth path
- Wet leaves, rain or ice make the ground slippery: wear suitable shoes
- Between Bonzanigo and Viano you pass close to the route of the Variante: respect any closures
