A quick look at: Graffignana, Romano di Lombardia, Lombardy, Italy

On the beautiful Santuario Madonna alla Fontana in Romano (on Via Marconi), this old stone sign can be seen, pointing a traveller to various small villages and towns nearby. Crema, the largest, is fairly well known, but Graffignana is so small that one could easily walk through it without realising you had visited a named place at all. This occurred to me.

See also:

Walking in (and around)… Romano di Lombardia (1), Lombardy, Italy

Walking in (and around)… Romano di Lombardia (2), Lombardy, Italy

Walking in (and around)… Romano di Lombardia (3), Lombardy, Italy

Where is it?

Only a look at an online map reveals that Graffignana exists, although perhaps only to the same extent that farmsteads exist on their own basis on these sorts of reference points. Located a short walk on the road running out of Romano di Lombardia to the south west (Via della Graffignana), don’t expect to find more than a few farms, houses, and fields on your walk.

The sights

Following Via della Graffignana, you soon meet a stream running alongside the road.

Walking through on a clear day is a treat – particularly going from Winter to Spring as the Alps can be seen to your right, topped with snow. You can even see planes coming in to land and taking off from Milan (Bergamo) airport.

Entering the small gathering of buildings, you will see a small church and some larger farms. I lost count of the number of small dogs that would run to their gates, barking away at a possible intruder.

The church, ‘Chiesa dell’Immacolata e Ss. Fermo e Rustico’, is easily spotted by its bell-tower.

Further on, following the road takes you in the direction of the river and past many other farms / Cascine. Expect to see plenty of chickens and horses.

Soon enough, you will be able to look back on Romano and see the main cathedral towers (with the mountains as a backdrop, of course!).

If you are following a map on your phone, you’ll notice that the road stops before reaching the river. It is, however, perfectly simple to get there. A couple of turns here and there and you are walking alongside a larger, fenced field. It seems to be a popular footpath, and takes you straight down to the River Serio.

Simply bend left here:

turn right here:

and go straight down this pathway. This will take you all the way to the river:

At this point, a turn right will take you back up to the main road and another way back into Romano. Turning left, however, opens up more walking opportunities, many of which are signposted. One such walk I did around three years ago, and was also rather pretty.

As mentioned earlier, on a clear day, the mountains are a treat of a view, and it is difficult to stop glancing to the right every few moments.

On this particular occasion, I turned right and headed back up the river to get back to Romano.

See also:

Walking in (and around)… Romano di Lombardia (1), Lombardy, Italy

Walking in (and around)… Romano di Lombardia (2), Lombardy, Italy

Walking in (and around)… Romano di Lombardia (3), Lombardy, Italy