The best traffic-free bike rides around Ronco Briantino

Montevecchia is a charming village suspended between Milan, Brianza and the Lecco Prealps. It stands at an altitude of almost 500 meters and overlooks the almost 3000 hectares of the Montevecchia and Curone Valley Regional Park, where the famous Pyramids, mysterious rock formations, emerge.

classic! Getting here and going down the other side of the Brianza roof ;)

This church was dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul, also known as the "Princes of the Apostles." Their feast day is June 29. Simon, nicknamed Peter (Rock), was a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee when he and his brother Andrew were called by Jesus Christ to be "fishers of men." According to Catholic doctrine, he is the chief apostle, and the two-thousand-year line of popes—currently Francis—follows him. In statues and paintings, Peter is almost always depicted with two keys in his hand. This attribute refers to the biblical passage in Matthew: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 16:19). Simon, nicknamed Peter (Rock), was a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee when he and his brother Andrew were called by Jesus Christ to be "fishers of men." Paul was initially an opponent of the Christian movement and, unlike the other apostles, was not called to the apostleship by Jesus Christ during his lifetime, but was converted later through the famous "Damascus Road experience." His attribute is the sword with which he was executed. Such a sentence was a "privilege" under Roman law at the time (a swift death, unlike other forms of execution which involved a long, agonizing death struggle) afforded to the citizens of Rome.

Villa Anguissola in Busca D’Adda is a historic neoclassical residence, built primarily in 1807 on the initiative of Count Carlo Francesco Anguissola. Despite the deterioration it suffered, it has been restored and is considered a notable example of neoclassical architecture in Brianza, with roots that also include a 17th-century palace and a 15th-century farm building.

Stairway Leading to Cypress Hill

The cycle path from Lago di Garlate along the Adda River is natural and therefore bumpy, but beautiful. An impressive hydroelectric power plant and a road/rail bridge near Paderno d'Adda showcase architecture from 100 years ago. This bridge is continuously monitored by a measuring system. You can see the monitoring as you cycle up to Paderno from the cycle path.

In the main square of Montevecchia stands a villa renowned not only for its architectural beauty but also for having been the summer residence of Maria Gaetana Agnesi, who can be considered one of the founders of gender equality and female independence, having achieved a prestigious position in a field formerly reserved for men: science and mathematics. Maria Gaetana was a child prodigy, with an extraordinary intelligence and the fortune of being raised by a father who did everything to cultivate and nurture her talent. At just seventeen, Maria wrote her first essay, a commentary on the analysis of conic sections by the French mathematician L'Hôpital, and, a few years later, a collection of essays on philosophy, mathematics, and physics, the "Propositiones philosophicae," which also addressed the issue of female education. But the work for which Maria rightly entered history was the Analytical Institutions, a two-volume text of over a thousand pages, intended as a study manual that covered the different areas of mathematics in a clear and concise manner: algebra, geometry and the newborn differential and integral calculus.

Dedicated to the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel, it stands atop the Montevecchia hill. From the terrace, there is a splendid view of much of the Po Valley, the Alps, and the Apennines, almost reaching as far as Bologna.