Years Ago, In Travelling By The St.
Gothard Road, I Had Noticed The Many Little Villages Perched High
Up On The Sides Of The Mountain, From One To Two Thousand Feet
Above The River, And Had Wondered What Sort Of Places They Would
Be.
I resolved, therefore, after a time to make a stay at Faido
and go up to all of them.
I carried out my intention, and there is
not a village nor fraction of a village in the Val Leventina from
Airolo to Biasca which I have not inspected. I never tire of them,
and the only regret I feel concerning them is, that the greater
number are inaccessible except on foot, so that I do not see how I
shall be able to reach them if I live to be old. These are the
places of which I do find myself continually thinking when I am
away from them. I may add that the Val Leventina is much the same
as every other subalpine valley on the Italian side of the Alps
that I have yet seen.
I had no particular aversion to German Switzerland before I knew
the Italian side of the Alps. On the contrary, I was under the
impression that I liked German Switzerland almost as much as I
liked Italy itself, but now I can look at German Switzerland no
longer. As soon as I see the water going down Rhinewards I hurry
back to London. I was unwillingly compelled to take pleasure in
the first hour and a half of the descent from the top of the
Lukmanier towards Disentis, but this is only a ripping over of the
brimfulness of Italy on to the Swiss side.
The first place I tried from Faido was Mairengo - where there is the
oldest church in the valley - a church older even than the church of
St. Nicolao of Giornico. There is little of the original
structure, but the rare peculiarity remains that there are two high
altars side by side.
There is a fine half-covered timber porch to the church. These
porches are rare, the only others like it I know of being at Prato,
Rossura, and to some extent Cornone. In each of these cases the
arrangement is different, the only agreement being in the having an
outer sheltered place, from which the church is entered instead of
opening directly on to the churchyard. Mairengo is full of good
bits, and nestles among magnificent chestnut-trees. From hence I
went to Osco, about 3800 feet above the sea, and 1430 above Faido.
It was here I first came to understand the purpose of certain high
poles with cross bars to them which I had already seen elsewhere.
They are for drying the barley on; as soon as it is cut it is hung
up on the cross bars and secured in this way from the rain, but it
is obvious this can only be done when cultivation is on a small
scale.
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