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Bargain Travel Europe guide to Europe on a budget for unusual destinations,
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TIRANO ITALY - SCENIC PILGRIMS
Bernina Express to Basilica Madonna di Tirano

Basilica Madonna di Tirano photoTirano is a smallish city of less than 10,000 souls in the Valtellina valley of Lombardy, northern Italy. One may find oneself in Tirano if transiting between Italy and Switzerland whether by car or rail, or bus. Especially if taking the scenic Bernina Express from St Moritz or Chur. Tirano is the end of the line of the Rhaetian Railway where it meets up with the Italian State Railway from Milan. The two separate railway stations sit opposite from one another across a stone paved square lined with restaurants and bars. Arriving on the train from Switzerland, a small police officeTrain Through Tirnao Streets photo in the Rhaetian station is the border stop, one of the few left where Italian State Police still check passports. Switzerland recently joined Shengen Europe so visas aren't an issue, but the stamp is a nice souvenir. The state rail station has an old world feel left from the steam days when Mussolini got the Italian trains to run on time. If making the connection between trains or if just taking the Bernina Express from Switzerland (see Scenic Bernina Express) to the end of the line and returning, one might ask what is there to do or see in Tirano?

Renaissance Tower Madonna Tirano photoTirano has been a transit point for pilgrims crossing the Alps since the middle-ages. Tirano’s best known feature is the great pilgrimmage church, the Basilica Madonna di Tirano, just on the edge of town against the backdrop of mountain slopes. On September 29, 1504, during the Feast of St Michael, a vision of the Virgin Mary appeared to Mario Degli Omodei, when the plague was ravishing western Europe and told him to build a sanctuary to travelers. Six months after her appearance, the first stone of the basilica was laid and the pestilance of the plague passed. The beautiful church of late Renaissance style architecture with its high tower and dome roof, but an interior of later Baroque ornate decoration has been attracting religious pilgrims and tourists in the 500 years since. Tirano Modonna Fresco Shrine photoThe Madonna di Tirano Basilica, designed by the Rodari brothers, architects from the Lake Lugano region in Ticino sits on a square of little tourist restaurants and a small city Ethnographic History Museum. It is a curious sight when the trains roll into town. The railroad tracks run right down the middle of the street, cutting across the Basilica square. You can see the Madonna di Tirano Basilica from the train window as it passes, but to reach it from the rail stations requires about a 15 minute walk. Across from the church look for the fresco from 1513 depicting the appearance of the Blessed Virgin, its a bit worn with all those pilgrims.

Spaghetti and Beer on Tirano sqaure photoThe Madonna Basilica was originally outside of Tirano, where the medieval walls protected the town from the pass crossing the stream of the river from Poschiavo (in Italian speaking Switzerland). The old town of Tirano - the Centro Storico - is in the opposite direction from the famous landmark church, making them a challenge to visit both if only having a short stopover between trains. There are lots of pizza and pasta restaurants and cafe/bars around Tirano serving the tourists who come for the church and the trains. The restaurants around the station square allow a lunch with a local Birra Castello while watching the passing parade of transiting tourists on weekends or gangs of school kids escaping class of the nearby middle school in the more modern city center a street away across the Viale Italia.

Square Hotel Restaurant photoThe train lines pretty much stop in Tirano. By car, the roads either lead up through the Bernina Pass into Switzerland (see Driving Bernina Pass) or into the Italian Alps, to the Stelvio National Park and on to Austria. For travelers on the Swiss railways you can get to Tirano on the Swiss Pass (see Swiss Pass - Train, Bus or Boat). It is also possible to take the Swiss Post Bus from Tirano to Lugano in Ticino and the lakes of Lugano and Maggiore, a trip of about 3 hours. From there one could continue to Milan or Torino, or across the Gotthard Pass to Lucerne (see Wilhelm Tell Express). If heading into Italy, the state rail line runs to Milan on the Trentalia system. If just spending a few hours stop over in Tirano between trains or the bus, it is possible to deposit luggage at the station. If a stay over is in the cards the Bernina Hotel is across the square from the stations. © Bargain Travel Europe

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See Also:

HOTEL VILLA KINZICA - LAGO d'ISEO

CASTLE TOBLINO

TRENTINO WINE TOURING

AGRITOURISMO COOKING COURSES IN MARCHE