Contrada di Arnosto: an ancient and charming hamlet

In the municipality of Fuipiano, a quaint little village located in the Imagna Valley in the slopes of the Orobic Pre Alps, you can visit the ancient and charming hamlet of Arnosto.

It dates back to the 14th century and it was the seat of the Venetian Customs until 1797. Over here the border between the Duchy of Milan and the Serenissima was delimited. The Italian term contrada comes from contrà which means “a group of rural houses”.

The hamlet of Arnosto still preserves buildings of great artistic and historical value with its stone walls, arched portals and also traces of frescoes. Its pitched roofs are the main charateristic elements of the hamlet. Actually, they were built with very thick cut limestone slabs of the Imagna Valley called piode. The accuracy of the architecture can be seen in the overlapping of the rocks of the roofs, in the composition of the houses and in the workmanship of the portals.

Inside the hamlet of Arnosto there is also an ethnographic museum, created by the Amici di Arnosto group. In the museum there is a collection of ancient work tools that were used by peasants, breeders and artisans of the past. There is also an exhibition of photos of the populations that lived in this area in the past.

So, if you are in the Imagna Valley, let this fairy hamlet take you back in time! In the meanwhile, discover other fantastic places!