A Trip to a Fairy-Tale Wedding in an Old Villa on Lake Annone - Part I

A film set in 18th-century Lombardy, among sumptuous villas, gardens overlooking the mountain ranges of Upper Brianza that had enchanted even Stendhal, precious works of art and enchanting lake landscapes with a mysterious charm. A film whose protagonists, members of a noble family on holiday, are none other than us: that is what it felt like to live during a recent day trip to Lake Annone.

Half an hour's drive is enough to leave behind the chaos of the Milan ring road and find yourself immersed in another world where the air is clean, where the flashing of cars gives way to the slow step of grazing sheep, where around a bend there is no longer a line of lorries but the blue mirror of the lake that contrasts with the bronze of the winter reeds, with the chirping green of the trees in summer and with the colourful mosaic of the villages on the opposite shore.

When we arrive at Annone di Brianza, we leave the car directly in the large car park of the Antico Borgo della Madonnina restaurant, where we will later go to enjoy a delicious dinner. Continuing on foot, just a few steps are enough to reach the lakeside where the Percorso Vita begins, a cycling and walking path that allows you to fully enjoy the beauty of this unspoilt landscape. Ours is also a journey back in time thanks to tourist signs that tell us about the origins of the lake, formed by the melting of glaciers. Our sportier friends cannot resist the urge to try the exercise equipment installed on a small lawn that stretches along the path, while the lazier ones stop to photograph the panorama, including a stone shaped like an animal's head, perhaps a sheep, set into a low wall.

Lake Annone is the largest of the five Brianza lakes and also stands out for its biodiversity. A botanical study has recorded here the presence of several species not found elsewhere in Lombardy, together with seventy species considered rare. The fauna is no different; indeed, to the delight of young and old, you can encounter — or at least hear or glimpse — curious animals, often endemic to this area, including frogs, water snakes and a large, colourful variety of water and marsh birds.

Where there is a lake with a mysterious atmosphere, legends shrouded in mist are not lacking either. It is said, in fact, that a terrible dragon once raged in these parts, to defeat which none other than Saint George himself had to intervene. The well-known legend of Saint George's dragon therefore has its own lakeside, Brianza version, confirming the cult of the saint, which spread to these parts thanks to the Benedictine monks who settled here towards the end of the 11th century, the period from which the church of the same name also dates, later rebuilt in the 15th century and made a parish church in 1575. The old religious building preserves a series of valuable 15th-century frescoes, as well as an ossuary and other archaeological finds that emerged during renovation work.

A famous polyptych, the Ancona della Passione, in carved and painted wood from the 16th century, from an Antwerp workshop, was long housed in the church of San Giorgio before being moved to the Museo Diocesano in Milan.

After our lakeside walk, which also took us to the Isella peninsula, which divides the lake into two parts between Annone and Civate, we take a stroll through the historic centre, visiting the 19th-century parish church, as well as the Villa Cabella complex and the little chapel of San Giuseppe ai Ronchetti, erected in memory of the people of Annone who died in the plague of 1630, of Manzonian memory.

Our film-like day in the role of 18th-century nobles continues in the place most suited to our imaginary role: at an aristocratic residence of the period, Villa Moneta Caglio, once the country residence of the counts and today the home of "Il Faggio", the village's little restaurant, and a well-known location for weddings, events and ceremonies. Immersed in a splendid Italian garden, the villa welcomes us amid exquisitely refined atmospheres, rooms steeped in an elegance underlined by light colours and an impeccable style that combines tradition and modernity.