Street & district

Old Como–Brunate Mule Track

A farmer, a friar and a traveler take the same way uphill: stone underfoot, Brunate above and no funicular to spare their calves. This steep mule track was once the principal link between Como and the villages on the hillside.

Address: Via Prudenziana and Salita San Donato, Como
Area: Como, Italy

Open in Maps Ready-made routes

Why it is worth the detour

This steep stone route was Como’s main connection with the hillside villages before the funicular. It climbs through Garzola toward Brunate, preserving the old, leg-powered geography of the city.

The Old Como–Brunate Mule Track is a historic stone path that climbs through Garzola toward Brunate, offering a glimpse into the city's past before modern transportation. It is a hidden gem that preserves the old, leg-powered geography of Como.

What else is close by

The nearest places we have written up, with straight-line distance from here.

200 m
Coloniola Waterfront Quarter
Boats crowd the shore, goods wait beside workshops, and lodging houses fill with people passing through. Then the nineteenth century redraws Como’s waterfront—and Coloniola loses its old job.
300 m
Como–Brunate Funicular
In 1894, the mule-track slog up from Como met its match: a railway climbing roughly 500 vertical metres. Brunate would never be quite so secluded again.
350 m
The Underground Valduce Stream at Piazza Matteotti
The Valduce comes down from Brunate, reaches northeastern Como—and then appears to vanish. It has not: beneath the modern city, the stream is still heading for the lake.
450 m
Church of San Provino
September 22, 1794: Alessandro Volta, a scientific celebrity at home in Europe’s salons, came to this small church to marry Teresa Peregrini. The setting was strikingly understated; the bride, his letters make clear, was anything but a footnote.
450 m
Palazzo Terragni (Casa del Fascio)
It is 1945, and the political order behind this building has collapsed. The former Fascist Party office now has new occupants: parties of the National Liberation Committee. The walls have not moved; Italian politics has.
500 m
Albergo Terminus
Look from the lake to the Art Nouveau façade: in 1902, Como’s working waterfront was dressing for a new role. The twist? Albergo Terminus was not only a hotel—it also provided bathing facilities for the hotel next door.