Tirano

Tirano (Teràn in the dialect of Valtellina) is a village located in Lombardy, in the province of Sondrio, about 2 km from Switzerland. On the etymology of the name the debate between historians and specialists has lasted for a long time over the centuries and some have opted for "inter amnes", that means "between the rivers": in fact the village is located between the two rivers Adda and Poschiavino. It rises at an altitude of 450 m in a mountain setting: to the south the Orobie Valtellina Alps, to the north the Bernina massif and to the north-east the Stelvio one. Its innumerable archaeological findings testify that the village of Tirano was already inhabited in prehistoric times and, today, it can be considered that its nucleus has Roman origins. Famous for its Sanctuary of the Madonna di Tirano, the village is however an important tourist center and meeting point for various communication routes, as well as the end of the Tirano-Sankt Moritz railway line.

The Sanctuary of the Madonna di Tirano is located near the Tiranese Ethnographic Museum, in the northern part of the town, and represents the most important Renaissance and religious architectural expression of the Valtellina. In Church square there is the Collegiate Prepositurale di San Martino and, walking through the streets of the center, you can admire the modest, but still refined, Church of Sant'Agostino and the Palace of Visconti Venosta - now Quadrio Curzio - elegant Renaissance residence. For lovers of 16th -17th century architecture, the village of Tirano offers several examples of valtellinese noble residences such as the Palace of Salis, Palace of Marinoni, Palace Merizzi, Palace of Oro-Lambertenghi, Palace of Pievani, Palace of Parravicini, Palace of Buttafava and the Palace Torelli. In a dominant position, compared to the rest of the village, stands the Castello Omodei - or Castellaccio - one of the oldest and most suggestive buildings of the little village.

Apart from being a town rich in history, the village of Tirano has a centuries-old tradition in the manufacture of pewter - an ancient metal alloy used for the production of artistic objects, jewelry, trophies and crockery - and the processing of buckwheat, which allowed the creation of famous traditional dishes such as Polenta Nera, Pizzoccheri, Sciatt and Chisciol.