Paddling from Sarnico to Monte Isola
The itinerary begins in Sarnico by pointing the bow of the kayak to north. We immediately come across the historic Riva shipyards, where it is good to pay attention to the boats being tested and the Art Nouveau architectural masterpieces of the architect Giuseppe Sommaruga. Art Nouveau architecture has also enhanced the landscape, using the lake front and the garden of the villas as a large scenography in which to insert the buildings, with perspective effects that can be appreciated above all from the water.
We can admire this perspective by observing Villa Surre immersed in its gardens from our boats.
Continuing to north you can admire the town of Predore nestled between the hills, olive groves and the mouth of the Rino stream. On the lake shore, inside a villa there is the 12th century Half Tower, part of the Predore fortification. According to popular rumours, the tower was disputed between two brothers who wanted to divide the building between them and whoever left did so by taking the stones with them; in reality the collapse occurred due to land subsidence.
After the town of Predore you can admire rows of Taxodium disticum planted in the middle of the last century on the initiative of the Tavernola botanist Luigi Fenaroli. This type of conifer was among the first American trees to be introduced into Europe and originally lives in marshy and submerged lands; it is very particular for its elegant shape, in harmony with the coastal landscape, the colors especially in the autumn season and for the loss of leaves in the winter period, thus justifying its name of “bald cypress”. Before the town of Tavernola the turn towards Monte Isola begins, the largest inhabited island of the European lakes; on its top stands the Sanctuary of the Madonna della Ceriola, built in ancient times on the remains of an ancient pagan sacred building. The privately owned Rocca Martinengo, which was built by the Oldofredis before 1300, dominates the Sensole promontory. On the southern side of the island, the small Island of San Paolo is also worth a paddle, originally a deserted islet on which a convent was built and now a private residence.
Credits: CSI Kayak Sarnico and Flavio Morosini
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