"The Way of the Sisters": the slow path that unites Bergamo and Brescia

One hundred and thirty kilometers, thirty-six municipalities crossed, two UNESCO sites, eight crossed paths , three wine-growing areas. And again: parks, PLIS, reserves, Lake Iseo. This is the Via delle Sorelle, the path that connects Brescia to Bergamo, Italian Capital of Culture 2023.

 

 

Imagined by Slow Ride Italy in July 2020 inspired by the nomination of Bergamo Brescia as Italian Capital of Culture 2023, studied and designed in 2021 and presented for the first time in January 2022 to the Institutions, La Via delle Sorelle was born in 2023, but wants to become a sustainable legacy for the two territories.

 

 

The key concepts that determined the definition of the route were in fact those of: creating a natural green line between two highly urbanized areas with the desire to show another face; get in touch with the other paths and paths in stages in the area as an engine for the development of slow tourism; cross environmental or architectural beauties outside the classic tourist routes so that they are enhanced. From these premises , a slow journey was born, in stages, among nature, with a minimum percentage of asphalt, which unites the two cities and their provinces, to represent and enhance their cultural identity and natural heritage, with the addition of visual arts to make it unique in its kind.

 

 

Officially included in the Bergamo Brescia Italian Capital of Culture 2023 Dossier, the path was donated by the Slow Ride Italy Association to the two cities and obtained the support of the municipalities crossed: a Governance partnership was born whose subjects are, in addition to the leading and coordinating association of the project, the two capital municipalities, the two provinces, the municipalities crossed by the path, the Terre di Franciacorta Association and the MilleMonti Association. 

 

 

The name was born from the inspiration of the new relationship between Brescia and Bergamo: cities that resemble each other, that are close and that, like sisters, can compete or discuss, but are fundamentally united. Always defined as cousins, also for having experienced a particular and sad historical moment - the Covid health emergency - which saw them sadly protagonists, today more than ever they have become sisters.

 

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT "THE WAY OF THE SISTERS"

The project aims to increase the proposal for sustainable use of the Brescia and Bergamo area, increasing its green perception and intercepting new visitor targets. In addition, the walk fully fulfills what the health emergency has required, that is, a new way of rethinking spaces and sociality and of using places, decongesting, deseasonalizing and lengthening the periods of stay.

 

THE ROUTE "THE WAY OF THE SISTERS"

Bidirectional, in its 130 kilometers, in addition to the two capitals Brescia and Bergamo, the route crosses 34 municipalities, developing on the hilly strip of the two cities and provinces. There are six recommended stages to do it entirely, each with an average of 20-25 kilometers, but each walker will still be able to modulate the daily time and length according to their level of training. However, each stage has natural and cultural specificities, such that it can also be experienced as a day trip and a weekend trip. 

 

Route map The Way of the Sisters © Press Office The Way of the Sisters

 

WELCOME IN THE PATH "THE WAY OF THE SISTERS"

A reception network for sleeping and eating has been structured around the path. The realities that have joined are located along the stages and will offer controlled prices to walkers in possession of a credential that can be requested directly on the website. The credential, in addition to supporting the maintenance of La Via delle Sorelle, will be valid as an entrance ticket to the Torbiere del Sebino Reserve, to which part of the proceeds will go.

 

 

SIGNAGE OF THE ROUTE "LA VIA DELLE SORELLE"

The Via delle Sorelle has dedicated vertical signs, financed by the Lombardy Region - Ersaf, which show the logo and the direction of travel (Brescia or Bergamo) and are integrated with horizontal signs (red and blue paint).

 

Signage The Way of the Sisters © Press Office The Way of the Sisters

 

THE PATH AND THE VISUAL ARTS IN THE PATH "THE WAY OF THE SISTERS"

The Via delle Sorelle is enriched thanks to the dialogue and interaction of contemporary arts (visual arts, theater, literature and music), called to interpret and enhance fundamental values: the relationship between man and nature, between man and territory, between past and present. It starts with the placement of permanent contemporary works of art along the stages of the Camino, to create the first creative construction site between two cities and transform the Via delle Sorelle into an open-air stage.

In Brescia, the artist Massimo Uberti (Brescia, 1966), internationally known for his language that uses light to shape and merge into the identity of the landscape, is creating a large installation, promoted by Cherubini Spa, in green neon that declares "EXPECT MORE" and which will be located along Via Pusterla, in Brescia, inside the vineyard of the same name of the Monte Rossa winery, the largest urban vineyard in Europe. In ideal dialogue with this great luminous work, is the work scattered by Claudia Losi (Piacenza, 1971) in the Bergamo area, along the path that leads from Nembro to the hamlet of Lonno.

 

 

The work, curated by Alessandra Pioselli and Ilaria Bignotti with the collaboration of Camilla Remondina, consists of a widespread installation of small sculptures in local stone that take up the elongated ogival shapes of the whetstones. Along the entire Camino, the textile installations of the artist Laura Renna (San Pietro Vernotico, Brindisi, 1971) will develop in natural and cultural points of the stages: large tapestries made with about 2000 artifacts donated by the collective and participatory action 50 MILES - TOGETHER IN THE HUMAN CHAIN conceived by the VIVA VITTORIA Association.

 

 

But the Camino also intercepts areas already characterized by the open gaze to the relationship between art and nature: think of the area of the Mompiano Valley (Brescia) which for years has led the visitor to reflections on ecology through artistic installations located in the ArteValle route and which this year will see the area enriched with new interventions.

 

 

Among these will be "Nel Bosco Immagino", a project with numerous partners that in 2023 will take the form of various actions, including the creation of Matthias Neumann's installation in the Mompiano Valley and the involvement of many cultural realities in Brescia. On Monte Maddalena, in the area that the Camino travels, there is also a new project of the AAB - Association of Brescian Artists entitled "Magdalene. The forest of art". The intent is to place works of Land Art, introducing a creative and fairytale note on the edge of the path, in the coppice forest owned by the municipality. At the moment, other projects are underway by artists who are studying the Camino and, during 2023 and in the years to come, they will intervene in it. The works of art, in fact, will grow over time, making it a laboratory where art, nature, culture and production intertwine in a virtuous and sustainable, inclusive and open way and with strong involvement.

 

 

SUPPORTERS "THE WAY OF THE SISTERS"

La Via delle Sorelle has had the support of the Lombardy Region, the ASM Foundation, the Cariplo Foundation and the Community Foundations of Bergamo and Brescia, Visit Bergamo and Visit Brescia.

 

 

COLLABORATIONS "THE WAY OF THE SISTERS"

Collaborating with La Via delle Sorelle: the Hdemia SantaGiulia of Brescia, the Potatrek Association of Bergamo, Arthob, the Bobo Archetti Foundation, the Audiophonetic School. The Bergamo Brescia Italian Capital of Culture 2023 event sees Intesa Sanpaolo and A2A in the role of Main Partner, Brembo in the role of System Partner, Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane and SACBO as Area Partners. The Ministry of Culture and the Lombardy Region are institutional partners together with the Cariplo Foundation, the Brescia Community Foundation and the Bergamo Community Foundation.

 

 

The path was presented on March 28 at the Santa Giulia Auditorium in Brescia in the presence of: Emilio Del Bono – Mayor of Brescia; Giorgio Gori – Mayor of Bergamo; Laura Castelletti – Deputy Mayor and Councillor for Culture of Brescia; Nadia Ghisalberti – Councillor for Culture of Bergamo; Emanuele Moraschini – President of the Province of Brescia; Pasquale Gandolfi – President of the Province of Bergamo and Alessia Marsigalia – President of the Slow Ride Italy Association, the Association that conceived and coordinates the walk.