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The Taleggio Valley

The Taleggio Valley is located 850 m above sea level.

The town of Taleggio includes the hamlets of Peghera, Pizzino, Sottochiesa and Olda. Since the beginning of the 20° century the valley could only be entered through the pass named “della Forecella di Bura” coming from Bergamo passing through the town of Brembilla, through the Culmine di San Pietro Pass coming from the Valsassina Valley and through the Baciamorti Pass coming from the upper Brembana Valley.

Nowadays, thanks to the provincial main road, it is possible to enter the Taleggio Valley also from the valley floor, going along the road that from San Giovanni Bianco goes up through the picturesque gorge dug by the Enna stream.

The name TALEGGIO comes from Latin Tilietulum, that means a small linden tree typical of the valley. Later on the word became Tiletlum, that then turned into Tilleggio.

The first inhabitants were probably hunters and shepherds who gradually turned their pastures into villages. One of the main characteristics of the valley landscape is the roofs, which are made up of the so called piöde. Due to the lack of clay and slate pits the valley inhabitants had to use these particular stones coming from sedimentary partially metamorphosed rocks that were easy to find. Every single stone is very heavy and this made it necessary to transmit the weight of the roof to the walls of the buildings.

This resulted into roofs with an average pitch of 60 degrees. As a consequence of the steep pitch roofs proved unsteady. To solve the problem the piöde had to be put on a horizontal plane parallel to the ground, with a 30 degree slope with respect to the roof line. This explains why roofs look like steps. Doors with arches are very rare, whereas architraves are quite common due to the high local availability of solid limestones.

For many centuries cattle farming and milk processing have been the main activities of the valley inhabitants, who practise them even nowadays although as minor activities. In the past both lead the so called bergamini to move from their pastures and to settle into the fertile Po Valley. In this way they made their cheese, named after their valley, an internationally famous product: the TALEGGIO.

 

A special thank to Pietro Gritti for his pictures of the Taleggio Valley - www.pieroweb.it