Fiumetta stream

Italiano

The Fiumetta is a stream that runs down from the coast of Monte Orscellera in Valsassina to flow after very few kilometers into Pioverna Orientale (Eastern Pioverna) stream, flowing entirely in the Municipality of Barzio; its notoriety comes from crossing the town center.[^] The regime is irregular, the water flows during rains and is exhausted after a few days.

Along the course of the stream, in the riverbed or beside it, or on bridges that cross it, the Municipality of Barzio has placed a series of yellow signs authorizing discharge, as it does for other waterways in the country, most they can be read looking towards the valley. They are also useful for identifying the presence of a torrent in the covered sections. The format of the signs is Comune di BARZIO autorizzazione allo scarico n. 135 del 22.03.2006 scarico n. 2.X valle name (Municipality of BARZIO authorization to discharge n. 135 on 22.03.2006 discharge n. 2.X name Valley), where X is a number. For the Fiumetta, scarico n. 2.X valle Fiumetta (discharge n. 2.X Fiumetta Valley).

La Fiumetta in the country

The Fiumetta stream comes from the mountain descending steeply along the edge of some houses in Via Valtorta and passes under a bridge, where it feeds the municipal wash house. It continues steeply along Via Rena between two walls about two meters apart, discharge n. 2.8 and discharge n. 2.9. Near the rear of the building in Piazza Garibaldi 11 (Locanda di Mirò), the watercourse goes underground. An upstream branch of the stream crosses Via per Concenedo (discharge 2.1 Fiumetta valley) before a high condominium and descends channeled in the right side of Via Rena to join the main waterway under the square. In Piazza Garibaldi, at the corner of Via Francesca Manzoni, you will find the yellow sign Municipality of BARZIO authorization to discharge n. 135 on 22.03.2006 discharge n. 2.2 Fiumetta Valley. The Fiumetta crosses Piazza Garibaldi under the houses of street numbers 13-21, to exit a few meters later at the beginning of the pedestrian area along Valle Fiumetta.
Two documents on maintenance work carried out in the square in the first half of the nineteenth century, when it was still the Piazza Comunale, hand down to us how two technicians called the watercourse. In 1829, the expert Bartolomeo Combi in his report calls the stream la fiume (the river), with feminine gender and in lowercase. In 1842, for the engineer Paolo Scandella it was the Fiumicella.[^][^] The stream flowed uncovered in the square, and a bridge connected it to Via Francesca Manzoni, until the 1930s when it was buried.

La Fiumetta, as the watercourse is called by barziesi (inhabitants of Barzio), runs along the first section of the pedestrian area to the right, while to the left there are some houses. Its course is rather steep, observable from Via Roma, between Bar Gelateria Châlet (discharge 2.7) and Piccolo Bar.[^] The stream continues passing under Via Martiri Patrioti Barziesi, where towards the mountain it can clearly see between the end of the first houses of the street and the bus stop coming from Lecco.[^] In the direction of the valley (on the same pole, discharge 2.3 and 2.4[^]), the river goes down closed between two walls (discharge 2.5), going decidedly to the left where the Fiumetta Valley widens in plan for a hundred meters,[^] between P2 (Market Square) and Tensile structure (discharge 2.6, 2.10 with 2.11[^]). In 2023, the overgrown valley meadow[^] was cleared for an artificial bicycle amusement track, which has a couple of names in English pump track & skill park. At the end of the pedestrian area created along its route, the torrente Fiumetta flows between P3 and the playground at the tensile structure;[^] in Via Provinciale, at the entrance-exit of the parking lot, it is observable towards the mountain from a bridge with white railings.

The Fiumetta can be heard flowing in the town when there are heavy rains due to the speed with which it descends into the town.[^][^] As far as I know, the stream water has never created any problems or damage.

Last course of the stream

Beyond Via Provinciale, Fiumetta continues almost flat and hidden, it flows near Conca Rossa with a curved, free and wide bed. Here it collects the waters of the stream that comes from Cremeno, Torrente Berniga.[^] Then, it descends into a steep valley with little slope for about a hundred metres, Valle Inscea, skirting locality Coldognetta. After crossing the Provincial Road 64 Prealpina Orobica branch Barzio - Ponte Folla, the Fiumetta torrent flows into the Pioverna Orientale in the locality Mulino di Barzio.

References

1. Mauro Vezzoli (27 June 2012- ). "Torrente Fiumetta". [Google Photos album]. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
2. Oriani, Federico (July 2015). "Le strade di Barzio, trasformazioni e denominazioni tra Sette e Novecento [The streets of Barzio, transformations and denominations between Eighteenth and Twentieth Century]" [PDF File] (in Italian). Doc Player. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
3. Oriani, Federico (July 2015). "Piazza Giuseppe Garibaldi". In 2 - Viabilità urbana barziese [2 - Urban roads of Barzio]. Le strade di Barzio, trasformazioni e denominazioni tra Sette e Novecento [The streets of Barzio, transformations and denominations between Eighteenth and Twentieth Century] [PDF File] (in Italian). Comune di Barzio. pp. 36-39. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
4. Mauro Vezzoli (8 July 2014). "July 2014 is really very rainy. The Fiumetta swells of the waters coming from the Monte Orscellera and flows strongly downstream. The Torrente Fiumetta photo album is in Google Photos in my account. In Blogger a post describes the flow of the stream in Barzio, published on June 28, 2015, modified in September 2017 and in September 2019.". In In giro per Barzio. [Flickr photo]. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
5. Mauro Vezzoli (29 July 2014). "Continue July 2014 with heavy rains. After the full on 8 July, another on 29 July, even stronger. The Fiumetta stream flows downstream with great speed, taken from the bridge of Via Martiri Patrioti Barziesi.". In In giro per Barzio. [Facebook photo]. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
6. Mauro Vezzoli (22 August 2013). "The pedestrian area from Via Martiri Patrioti Barziesi with the concrete walkway, the stream, the road sign and the two yellow signs of the municipality of Barzio, discharge authorization n. 135 of 22.03.06 discharge n. 2.3 valle Fiumetta and under discharge 2.4.". In giro per Barzio. [Flickr photo]. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
7. Mauro Vezzoli (2 April 2013). "The Fiumetta stream at the beginning of April, it is cold and there is still snow. I return to Barzio for the last 'wintry' of my long season of ascents to Piani di Bobbio. The bare landscape allows to admire the valley of the stream on the slope below the Parking 2.". In Area pedonale lungo la Valle Fiumetta, In giro per Barzio, Primavera and Torrente Fiumetta. [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
8. Mauro Vezzoli (1 September 2017). "The two signs of the discharge authorization of the Municipality of Barzio, 2.10 and 2.11 Valle Fiumetta, under Parking 2. The sign 2.11 is above 2.10. I take this photograph because I am rewriting the text of the photo albums I published on Blogger, Pedestrian area along the Valle Fiumetta and Torrente Fiumetta. Now a photographer only on rare occasions because I realized that it is almost impossible to be able to give the right place to the ones I have.". In Estate and Torrente Fiumetta. [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
9. Mauro Vezzoli (27 June 2012). "Third photo of Valle Fiumetta in Barzio taken at four in the afternoon of 27 June 2012. The pedestrian street for Via Martiri Patrioti Barziesi from P3.". In Area Pedonale lungo la Valle Fiumetta, Estate and Torrente Fiumetta. [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
10. Mauro Vezzoli (27 June 2012). "Torrente and Valle Fiumetta with the background of the Tensile structure tent. With dad and mom I spend my 2012 summer vacation in Barzio. It is the second year, after Riccardo bought a house in Via Milano 30 at the end of summer 2010. I get the idea of photographing the streets and places of Barzio to have a memory of the country and the days gone by, which will last several years. In the same way I concentrate on the Grignone, photographing paths, huts, mountain pastures, locality and other views. Last year my goal was to climb the most significant mountains of Valsassina.". In Estate and Torrente Fiumetta. [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
11. Mauro Vezzoli (8 July 2014). "The course and the water of the Fiumetta along the pedestrian area after so much rain. The sound of water against the walls of its bed impresses, a stream that is generally calm or without water.". In In giro per Barzio. [Flickr photo]. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
12. Mauro Vezzoli (10 September 2017). " Even a video of the stream that runs through the center of Barzio. We have to wait until September 10th to see so much rain in a summer that is lacking in rainfall. You can hear the water flowing because of the great speed with which the Fiumetta falls and slams into its bed channeled into the cement and between the houses.". In giro per Barzio. [Facebook video]. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
13. Oriani, Federico (July 2015). "Odonimi-toponimi [Odonyms-toponyms]". In 6 – Dai toponimi agli odonimi [6 - From toponyms to odonyms]. Le strade di Barzio, trasformazioni e denominazioni tra Sette e Novecento [The streets of Barzio, transformations and denominations between Eighteenth and Twentieth Century] [PDF File] (in Italian). Comune di Barzio. p 170. Retrieved 1 September 2017.

Pedestrian area along Valle Fiumetta

Italiano

The pedestrian area along Valle Fiumetta at Barzio in Valsassina runs along Fiumetta stream for about four hundred meters, from Via Roma, few meters below Piazza Garibaldi, to Parking 3 (Tensile structure) or P3.[^] The pedestrian area does not have a proper name, so I can dedicate it to Luca, the dear cousin from Turin who died prematurely in September 2019. The pedestrian path along the Fiumetta was designed to shorten the distances for those who travel on foot, in the direction of the town center, Via Martiri Patrioti Barziesi, the parking lots and Via Milano. The first section, from Via Roma to Via Martiri Patrioti Barziesi, which is quite wide, has been around for many years; pedestrian crossing, where there is the main bus stop in Barzio for buses to Lecco and Taceno, connect it to the second. The pedestrian area is not particularly attractive; it is illuminated by poles, each pole has a vase of flowers, in summer they are geraniums.[^]

From Via Roma to Via Martiri Patrioti Barziesi

Next to Piccolo Bar in Via Roma, the pedestrian area goes down steeply with an S-curve, just where La Fiumetta emerges from the underground stretch of Piazza Garibaldi.[^] Above is the outline of Chalet Bar Gelateria, address Piazza Garibadi 1, surrounded by a green garden, which has a splendid exotic tree; a secondary gate to the garden warns with a plaque Beware of the dog.[^]
The street reserved for pedestrians is large, the floor is made up of large light-colored tiles. The distance of the curve is facilitated by steps, which occupy the widest part of its width.[^] The pedestrian street continues then almost straight with a slope that gradually decreases. Beside, on the right, it is a narrow bed with four benches,[^] on which no one sits, while on the left, next to houses, the stream flows protected by railings interspersed with concrete.[^] You will soon arrive at the intersection of Via Martiri Patrioti Barziesi and to the pedestrian crossing.

This part of the area is quite popular, a shortcut between the town center and Via Martiri Patrioti Barziesi, and vice versa.

From Via Martiri Patrioti Barziesi to Parking 3 (Tensile structure)

The pedestrian area along the Fiumetta beyond Via Martiri Patrioti Barziesi is much narrower, there is space for two people. You meet people on the market day. The bottom is in rough concrete, certainly not the best flooring for walking. In November 2020, at a cost of 35,000 euros, a new synthetic flooring in marble grit was installed, draining and anti-slip.[^][^]

At the intersection with Martiri Patrioti Barziesi, on a pole is a sign that indicating the pedestrian area and other two yellow signs. The first one is Comune di Barzio authorization to drain n. 135 of 22.03.2006 drain n. 2.3 valle Fiumetta, and the second one, with the same writing but drain 2.4.[^]
The pedestrian driveway along the Fiumetta follows the sinuous path of the little river, which descends gently to the right, imprisoned by two walls in an obscure depth of three metres. For protection there is a black metal railing with horizontal bars. On the left, there is an 80s-style apartment building and its garden, on the right, the garden of other houses. After about 100 meters, on the left, at an old stone lodge, a dirty path goes to P2 (Market Square), about ten meters long; in front, isolated, there is a three-storey house with balconies inhabited by vacationers, Località Cesura 1. After a few meters, Via Clemente Buzzoni intersects, joined by a bridge over the stream.[^][^] Via Buzzoni ends in Via Milano, at the end of the oratory straight, just beyond the Banca Popolare di Sondrio.

With a more open view and the Fiumetta returned to the left for those who walk downhill, you arrive at a small valley with a lawn* and a group of isolated plants[^] which descends from the lower part of Parking 2. Continue to the wooden kiosk with the bar of the Tensile structure, to finish, after a last crossing of the Fiumetta,[^] to P3.

* In 2023, those who walk on the pedestrian path along the Fiumetta stream no longer enjoy the natural environment of the stream because the valley has been leveled, but observe the new Pump track & Skill park of Barzio,[^] in a nutshell an artificial track with bumps and curves for bikes, roller skates, scooters.

References

1. "45.944913,9.4666936,336". Google Maps. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
2. Mauro Vezzoli (13 August 2007- ). "Area pedonale lungo la Valle Fiumetta". [Google Photos album]. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
3. Mauro Vezzoli (28 June 2015). From Via Roma, the beginning of the pedestrian area in steep descent with the steps. In September 2019 I dedicated this pedestrian path to Luca after his untimely death.". In Area pedonale lungo la Valle Fiumetta and Estate. [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
4. Mauro Vezzoli (2 August 2014). "The elegant and characteristic building of Piazza Garibaldi 1 from the pedestrian street; on the first floor there is the Châlet Gelateria Cremeria, which is at ground level in Piazza Garibaldi. A plaque on the green gate of its well-kept garden warns Beware of the dog.". In Area pedonale lungo la Valle Fiumetta and Estate. [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
5. Mauro Vezzoli (24 August 2013). "The hairpin bend of the pedestrian street before Via Roma; in the background the exotic tree, genus Araucaria, of the Chalet Bar's garden. The ascent is facilitated by spacious steps.". In In giro per Barzio. [Flickr photo]. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
6. Mauro Vezzoli (9 September 2014). "The four wooden benches along the pedestrian area between Via Martiri Patrioti Barziesi and Via Roma. Rarely someone sits.". In In giro per Barzio. [Flickr photo]. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
7. Mauro Vezzoli (8 July 2014). "July 2014 is really very rainy. The Fiumetta swells of the waters coming from the Monte Orscellera and flows strongly downstream. The Torrente Fiumetta photo album is in Google Photos in my account. In Blogger a post describes the flow of the stream in Barzio, published on June 28, 2015, modified in September 2017 and in September 2019.". In Area pedonale lungo la Valle Fiumetta, Estate, In giro per Barzio and Torrente Fiumetta. [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
8. Editorial board (7 November 2020). "Barzio: interventi al cimitero e al vialetto pedonale della Fiumetta [Barzio: interventions on the cemetery and on the pedestrian path of the Fiumetta]". Valsassina News (In Italian). Retrieved 15 June 2021.
9. Mauro Vezzoli (26 August 2021). "How beautiful it is to walk in Barzio on the new synthetic marble grit flooring of the pedestrian walkway.". In Area pedonale lungo la Valle Fiumetta and Estate. [Google Photos Video]. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
10. Mauro Vezzoli (22 August 2013). "The pedestrian area from Via Martiri Patrioti Barziesi with the concrete walkway, the stream, the road sign and the two yellow signs of the municipality of Barzio, discharge authorization n. 135 of 22.03.06 discharge n. 2.3 valle Fiumetta and under discharge 2.4.". In In giro per Barzio. [Flickr photo]. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
11. Mauro Vezzoli (14 January 2013). "In mid-January 2013 I decide to spend a few days in the village in Valsassina that is dear to us, located about 800 meters above sea level. With my scarce but effective pocket machine Sony DSC-W510 I photograph the pedestrian area from the bridge over the Fiumetta torrent that joins it to Via Clemente Buzzoni. In winter the bare vegetation leaves the view to the landscape and to the distances.". In Area pedonale lungo la Valle Fiumetta and Inverno. [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
12. Mauro Vezzoli (1 July 2015). "The pedestrian street along the Fiumetta Valley with the series of electricity poles and the green house on Via Buzzoni. Never that I take a picture with people!". In In giro per Barzio. [Flickr photo]. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
13. Mauro Vezzoli (2 April 2013). "The Fiumetta stream at the beginning of April, it is cold and there is still snow. I return to Barzio for the last 'winter' of my long season of ascents to Piani di Bobbio. The landscape is bare and allows to admire the valley of the stream on the slope below the Parking 2.". In In giro per Barzio. [Flickr photo]. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
14. Mauro Vezzoli (14 January 2013). "Beautiful picture with winter light bridge over the Fiumetta stream for parking 3 of Barzio". In In giro per Barzio. [Flickr photo]. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
15. Mauro Vezzoli (2 August 2023). "The bicycle track next to the parking lots is the new attraction of Barzio. Tourists walking along the pedestrian path of the creek stop to observe the many children and young people running around on the pump track. In the meadow of Valle Fiumetta demolished by bulldozers, where there was a small group of trees, a solitary birch remains, perhaps not cut down because it is on private land.". In Area pedonale lungo la Valle Fiumetta, Estate and Pump track & Skill park di Barzio. [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 2 August 2023.