368 370 ALESSANDRO MANZONI’S LEONARDO DA VINCI’S MILAN THE BETROTHED Milan, Italy Italian Renaissance artist and Lecco, Italy inventor Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) called Milan Italian poet and novelist Alessandro Manzoni his home for a number of years, moving here to work (1785–1873) was brought up in Lecco, on Lake Como’s for the ruling Sforza family. eastern shore, spending his childhood and adolescence Between 1495 and 1497, he in awe of the surrounding lake scenery. ‘"at branch of worked on !e Last Supper the lake of Como, which extends towards the south, is mural in the refectory of the enclosed by two unbroken chains of mountains, which, Monastery of Santa Maria as they advance and recede, diversify its shores with delle Grazie. Opposite the church is the Casa degli numerous bays and inlets’, begins his historical novel Atellani, a beautiful !e Betrothed (1827). A short walk southwest of Renaissance house whose his childhood home in Lecco is Piazza Manzoni, garden and vineyard were dominated by a bronze statue of the novelist, while given to da Vinci as payment heading east along the lakefront is Pescarenico, a for his work on the mural. small !sherman’s village where Lucia and Renzo, the From here, it’s a lovely walk to the Ambrosiana, which protagonists of the novel, are said to have $ed in one houses the Codex Atlanticus, of the most famous scenes of Italian literature. the largest set of drawings and writings of da Vinci. 369 371 VISIT THE ABBEY THAT DA VINCI’S FEAT OF ENGINEERING INSPIRED UMBERTO ECO Cassano d’Adda, Italy As an engineer, Leonardo Piedmont, Italy da Vinci studied canals and navigable waterways. During When writing !e Name of the Rose (1983), Umberto his stays at the Medici Court in Milan, he visited the Eco (1932–2016) was inspired by the striking surrounding area, studying landscapes of Piedmont’s Susa Valley, most notably the the course of the River Adda, ancient abbey of San Michele, which, in Eco’s classic, is designing systems for locks ravaged by !re. "e Via Francigena, a historic walking and river navigation. A route and a major pilgrimage road from northern Italy lake-front path and cycle route winds its way along to Rome, snakes its way through the valley, which is the banks of the River Adda peppered with castles, forts and palaces. From Colle from Lecco to Cassano del Moncenisio the route leads down to the Novalesa d’Adda, passing the Abbey and on to the Abbey of San Michele, which Leonardo Ecomuseum, attracts scores of pilgrims year round. From here, the an open-air exhibition that route passes through the pretty towns of Avigliana and sheds light on da Vinci’s work in the area. Walking Rivoli to Turin. further downstream, a bridge leads to a path to the Villa Melzi d’Eril, where Leonardo is known to have sojourned. RIGHT: The Abbey of San Michele inspired Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose. 284 EUROPE EUROPE 285.