Bré, Pasquale Gilardi square
A few minutes away from the centre of the city, rises the sunniest mountain in the whole of Switzerland, mount Bre. Its peak is the ideal place to appreciate an incomparable view over Lugano, where the landscape is reminiscent of a miniature version of Rio de Janeiro, with its Sugar Loaf Mountain. Mount San Salvatore, the city's bay, the lake with its reflexes... The 360o view, standing out against a clear sky, encompasses the peaks of Valtellina, Milan's "Duomo", or cathedral, the Gran Paradiso, Monte Rosa, the Cervinio and the Dom. If the views are breathtaking, nature, which surrounds the footpaths - used by people on their Sunday walks, rather than more expert mountaineers - is the refuge of wild animals, among which boars, different types of deer, not to mention beech- and pine-martens, squirrels, badgers, foxes and hares, in a setting of chestnut woods and protected plants such as holly, inula spiraeifolia, gentian and the Christmas rose.And at an altitude of 785 metres, a historic municipality lives on in a small village that has learnt to skilfully mingle tradition with modern life. Archaeological finds show that Bre, which belongs to the district of Lugano, was already populated in the V century B.C. A land of emigrants and later of smugglers, the centre is an oasis of peace and tranquillity, where life is bucolic, its rhythms measured by the ringing of the church bells rather than the schedules of high finance. Art and the village mingle together, and in charming spaces, created by labyrinths of typical rural buildings, an old wash house, an artistic itinerary takes shape, an open-air museum, among sculptures, frescos, and decorations by Birò, Luigi Taddei, Aligi Sassu, and countless other artists who have drawn and continue to draw inspiration for their own work.
