Pescarenico district

Pescarenico is a district of Lecco, whose name comes from the verb “to fish”, because during the 17th century the families of Lecco held the authorization to fish in that stretch of lake. For this reason, a lot of fishermen used to live here.

Pescarenico is famous because it is the only setting that Alessandro Manzoni explicitly cites in his notorious novel, “The Betrothed”. The author describes it as "a small group of houses, mostly inhabited by fishermen, and decorated here and there with nets hung out to dry” (chapter IV).

It is easy to imagine the characters of the novel while walking in this old part of the city: Fra' Cristoforo coming back to his convent or Lucia who was forced to leave the town and her beloved. Indeed, Pescarenico is the setting of the famous chapter where Lucia says goodbye to the "mountains springing from the waters".

If you start your tour from Piazza del Pesce, you can explore the narrow alleys surrounded by low and colorful houses. We suggest relying on the yellow signs that indicate the Manzonian pedestrian itinerary: following them as if you were in a labyrinth, you can complete the tour of the small district.

After that, you can return to the lakefront where it is always possible to see an elderly fisherman dipping his boots into the lake to catch some fish or taking care of his small boat onshore. Among the boats you can see some "Lucia", a typical boat of the eastern side of Lake Como.

Do not miss the characteristic “Sagra de Pescarenech”, a festival that takes place every year in July with initiatives and events aimed at entertaining adults and children.

A SUGGESTION:

We highly recommend looking at the district from the other side of the lake, in the municipality of Pescate, where the houses and the boats reflected in the water with Mount Resegone in the background, create a scenery of pure magic.