Trenches in Corenno

The eastern shore of Lake Como is the right place for those who want to learn more about the history of the World Wars.

A must-see is undoubtedly Forte Montecchio Nord in Colico, the best preserved Fort from the first world war in Europe. Moreover, you can also hike on a very interesting path that will lead you to some trenches belonging to the “Linea Cadorna”. This defensive system was built along the italian-swiss borders at the beginning of the twentieth century in order to block any enemy invasion and there still are a lot of forts, trenches and military roads that keep alive the memory of that phase of history.

If you want to explore a small part of “Linea Cadorna” on the Lake, you have to reach Corenno Plinio, a nice medievial village in the municipality of Dervio, where you can take a nice walk from the square until the pier. It is easy to reach Corenno both with the car and with the train. If you pick this second option, you can get off the train in the nearby stations of Dervio or Dorio and reach the village through the famous sentiero del Viandante.

From the sqaure of Corenno you have to cross the road and look for a big signal that indicates the path through which you can reach Corenno's trenches.

From there, you will walk in the woods for about twenty minutes until you reach the first machine gun emplacements. From this point on, there will be plenty of protection walls and other machine gun emplacements that had to stop the enemies that were arriving from north. The emplacements are characterized by two embrasures, one turned towards the village of Corenno and the other towards the road from Colico to Milan. On the external walls you can see some hooks, where soldiers had to hang some coverages to camouflage the trenches.

These emplacements are not only an important heritage but they are also very fascinating: when you reach the highest part of the rock overlooking the lake, you can enjoy a unique view on the castle of Corenno and Lake Como.

To sum up, Corenno Plinio and its trenches are an unmissable excursion if you want to know more about the history of Lake Como, both the medevial one and the recent one.