The Val Tartano is one of the largest valleys on the Orobic slopes of the Valtellina, emerging towards to the base of it. This valley (the Val Tartano) rises from the valley floor town of Talamona, just past the viaduct. Once you leave the main road SS 38 dello Stelvio, it may be helpful to have a little historical context.
The road up to Val Tartano was first built between 1956 -57, permitting motor vehicles access up there for the first time. Nonetheless, it was a thriving part of the world, having three elementary schools there in the 1950’s, even though access was limited to pedestrians up a mule trail. This situation was finally addressed by the then Minister of Finance Ezio Vanoni (himself a native of the nearby town of Morbegno) and brought the case of Tartano to the attention of the Italian Senate in the midst of the Italian post-war economic boom. He wrote“I cannot forget that in my province of Sondrio, there’s a village of 1200 souls whose only access to the outside world is along a mule trail requiring 5 hours of walking to reach it – which I have done myself, both before and after my election to Government. Once you are there, you see the Town Hall and the War Memorial to its Fallen in both World Wars, and you come to realise that this small mountain community has one of the largest ratios of inhabitants to war casualties. I would hope to provide these 1200 mountain folk (as I have also done throughout my political career) the chance of some economic security and hope for the future for them and their heirs.” These words are to be found engraved on a granite plaque, set there in 1966 entitled “To Ezio Vanoni – Minister of the Republic – from the people of the Val Tartano”.
After this little sidetrack, let’s get to know this valley, the lower reaches of which resemble a deep furrow. At 1200 m.a.s.l., at Tartano itself, the valley splits into two – Val Lunga, where you will find the “Wood Museum” to the east, and the Val Corta to the west, where it again divides into two at the hamlets of Bagini and Barbera, to the Val di Lemma, famous for its “Giants’ Cauldrons”, distinctive holes gouged out of the rock by the erosion of water through the stone during the Ice Age and to the west the Val Budria. Their name are derived from the “Lunghi” people who were to first to colonise these parts, coming from the Orobic slopes of the Bergamasque pre-Alps, and the “Corti” who arrived there subsequently. Up there, there are mountain passes which connect, by footpath only, to the neighbouring valleys of Val Madre (province of Sondrio), the Val Brembana (province of Bergamo) and the Valle del Bitto (province of Sondrio). All these and many more are now accessible mountain trails for those who are keen on trekking, in a backdrop of wildlife and wilderness similar to the National nature reserve of the Orobie. Campo Tartano (1049m.a.s.l.) and a further 5 km along the road, Tartano(1200m.a.s.l.) – the main municipality of the valley – are the most important settlements. The various hamlets dotted around are full of historical traces of rural mountain life. There are still many active mountain pastures and chalets up there, where Bitto cheese is produced during the summer months.
