Eugi Gufo's siteEugi Gufo

Carrying out my plan to devote December trips to peaceful walks, one day I decided to visit Oggiono (in the province of Lecco). It is not exactly a mountain village — despite the clearly visible proximity of the mountains — yet the presence of hills was perfectly sufficient.

In general, from an architectural point of view, it is a very ordinary provincial town: low-rise apartment blocks lacking distinctive features, ranging from a modest «rural poor» style to a moderately well-off one.

But, as so often happens in Italy, the scarcity of civic beauty is compensated for by the beauty and abundance of churches. The beauty of some — or at least their originality — is immediately apparent…

… while others must be studied carefully in order to discover particular details.

Religious themes, however, do not guarantee architectural quality. The kitsch known as the «Grotto of the Madonna» is yet another demonstration of this.

The gilded statue of Christ the King, at least, is not located in a public space but in the courtyard of a parish house.

Although religion is widely represented in the local architecture (and therefore evidently well rooted in the collective mentality), it was nevertheless deemed necessary to remind citizens — with the help of road signs — of the profession of Pope John XXIII.

At this point it must be clarified that street names in Oggiono very often indicate the direction they lead to, rather than commemorating a historical figure or geographical location. I do not know how widespread this naming practice is in Italy, but I noticed it on this scale for the first time.

There are, however, also streets dedicated to less obvious historical events or to personalities of local importance.

Some signs in the historic centre are accompanied by brown rectangles whose appearance makes me think of historical place names (those normally preceded by the word «formerly»). But I am not certain whether I have guessed the correct principle.

There is nothing unusual in the local architecture’s use of natural stone materials instead of bricks: in mountainous areas this is extremely common.

What is occasionally surprising is the use of wood where we are accustomed to seeing metal (which would seem more suited to the function of a grille).

Meanwhile, just outside the built-up area, a reassuring rural landscape begins.

The old washhouse is built directly above a stream: a rare manifestation of efficiency. The rest of the stream, in the immediate vicinity, has by now been channelled into pipes.

Elsewhere within the municipal territory I found another, more modern washhouse, whose only interesting feature is the absence of the traditional division into sections.

The brief excursion beyond the town centre led to few noteworthy discoveries, among which stands out the encounter with a panda that has decided to put down roots in Italy.

So let us return to the town. The municipal Christmas decorations are very simple and not particularly varied. Yet they may be preferable to the similar installations spotted in Teglio.

The few flowerbeds encountered around the town are fenced in a rather un-Italian manner; to me, they seemed almost more Muscovite in style.

The majority of litter bins have nothing distinctive about them, apart from the very welcome presence of ashtrays.

Only one bin in Oggiono is truly original and unique of its kind. It rightfully joins my collection.

The monument to coffee corrected with wine might also find a place in an important collection (does anyone have other ideas as to why those two containers were paired in a single installation?).

And thus we have seen all the most interesting features of Oggiono accessible to an ordinary casual tourist. We may depart in tranquillity.