Hike at Cà d'la Norma: the megalithic site on Lake Mergozzo

The itinerary develops between the towns of Mergozzo and San Bernardino Verbano, along the slopes of Monte Faiè and Monte Castello, with panoramic views on Lake Mergozzo, Montorfano, the Fondotoce's plain, Lake Maggiore and the Borromean Islands.

In the hamlet of Groppole di Mergozzo there is the megalithic structure called “Ca’ d’la Norma” (dialect for house of Norma): an elliptic room delimited by huge dry stones and covered by a gigantic glacial erratic, on whose top a small drain and two cups are carved. The particular name was given to this complex by its discoverer, Giovanni Braganti, who thought this megalithic site could be of Celtic origin and gave the name “Norma”, like the priestess daughter of the Druids, protagonist of the opera of Vincenzo Bellini. The complex of Ca’ d’la Norma instead belongs to the fascinating phenomenon of megalithism, developed in the Neolithic, and characterized by buildings made of huge stones forming structures with public and religious use.

The trail twists and turns among woods, pastures and small hamlets facing Lake Mergozzo and Montorfano, following part of the Anello Azzurro (azure ring). In Mergozzo, in the tract alongside the lake, some old spires of the Milan Cathedral are displayed, made of Candoglia marble that, just like every marble piece of the Cathedral, are regularly replaced by the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo.

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