While waiting to 'expand' my Travel Trail adventures abroad with the Weekly Single-Workout Technique, I propose this beautiful route in Lombardy...
Monday, 03-03-2025. I present to you this new Travel Trail-style walking adventure in Brianza, starting from Lake Pusiano (a satellite of Lake Como) to reach the "stepped earth pyramids" in the Montevecchia park. They are said to be the only ones of their kind in Europe, though many earthen mounds with burial chambers exist in northern countries. It is unclear whether these Lombard pyramids are truly pyramids or if they served a religious function in the distant past. However, they are fascinating, and I must say they sparked my curiosity so much that I had to go there myself to verify their authenticity firsthand!
I will write about my impressions later; for now, let's talk about the journey...
Wake-up call at 4:00 AM, though I actually rolled around in bed for a few extra minutes—it's been months since I finished my osteopathic studies, and I've lost the habit of early morning wake-ups.
Still, by 4:20 AM, I was already up and preparing the last few details, having breakfast, and jumping into the car for the trip to Lake Pusiano (the starting point). The drive included my usual stops at Autogrill, which I love. It took quite a long time, mainly due to the heavy traffic on the highway around Milan—I was crawling at a snail’s pace! Once the traffic jam cleared, I headed toward Brianza, where I spent another hour searching for a free parking spot near the planned route.
A quick on-foot survey of the first kilometer to align with the GPS itinerary, then back to the car to change into my sports gear. Changing in the car is always a struggle, and of course, someone always walks by at that exact moment! In the end, I just ignore it and carry on.
I set off from the parking lot at 9:50 AM near Casletto, following the lake's edge.
I then ventured into the small urban centers of Rogeno, Costa Masnaga, Borzago, Borzano, Sirtori, Lissolo (where the highest peak reaches 522m above sea level), and many more... The route was a continuous up and down across several moderately elevated hills. However, adding up the elevation gains, the total reached 890m of positive elevation—and just as much in negative elevation!
Overall, it was a smooth route, entirely on asphalt. In this Travel Trail, the various towns seemed to be connected by a dense network of secondary roads. In fact, I only had to cross the train tracks once and later a busy main road—fortunately, there was an underpass!
Once deep into Montevecchia Park, I began observing carefully, trying to spot these curious "stepped pyramids" from a distance. However, I couldn't make them out until I got much closer!
At one point, near the entrance of the path leading to the middle pyramid, I noticed a raised formation emerging among the cultivated fields. From afar, it truly resembled a real square-based pyramid with a triangular peak! The view from this spot was absolutely magnificent
However, as I climbed the path, I began to notice endless cultivated fields all around, each with their own terraces still used today for agricultural purposes.
Getting even closer, I saw that there were no substantial differences between the terraces of this supposed pyramid and those still actively used! It quickly became clear to me that this is not a true pyramid, as one might mistakenly assume by comparing it to Egyptian pyramids.
Rather, it may have been partially "built" by reshaping the pre-existing hill, modified over time by past agricultural communities. However, aside from its shape, it does not differ from the surrounding terraces located further down the valley.
In 2001, an architect—credited with bringing them to light—noticed this peculiarity and managed to clear one of them from the overgrowth.
Thus, the shape we see today, with its respective earthen terraces, emerged. However, this demonstrates that it was used for cultivation rather than for burial purposes, unlike the African pyramids (in fact, the true purpose of the Egyptian ones remains a mystery to this day) or the mounds found in Northern Europe, which contain inner chambers.
Here, in all likelihood, if excavation were carried out, I believe no internal chambers would be found!
Apart from the surprise of not finding any real pyramid comparable to the famous Egyptian ones, it was still a wonderful walking adventure—full of discoveries in Brianza, both on the way there and back.
I also note that these pyramids have an additional curiosity: their position aligns in all three cases, just like the African ones symbolizing the sword of the Orion Constellation. This is certainly an intriguing detail, though in this case, it may very well be just a rare coincidence!
In 7 hours and 37 minutes, I completed this walking adventure, covering 40.2 km with 890 meters of elevation gain. I didn't feel tired at the end, but I must admit that during the return drive, at one point, I had to make an unplanned Autogrill stop because the early 4:00 AM wake-up was finally catching up with me!
Perhaps on another occasion, I will challenge myself with a trek around the perimeter of the small lakes in this beautiful area near Lake Como.
It's a fairytale-like place that, with its rolling hills—aside from the lakes—closely resembles the Roero of Alba, a region I came to know well during my tenure as a professor a few years ago.
To conclude, I note that this walking adventure was carried out thanks to the Weekly Single-Workout Strategy, explained in the book published by Fusta Editore, UltraTrail con il Monoallenamento, which I authored.
LIVE YouTube Video:
Mappa GPS dal sito Komot:
https://www.komoot.com/it-it/tour/2079159122
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