Pieve di Tremosine sul Garda and Arturo Cozzaglio
Pieve lies at the top of a sheer cliff of giada l origin. lake Garda is 65 metres above sea level and the town 423 metres a.s.l.. For centuries they have been linked by one of the loveliest paths in the world, Sentiero del Porto [harbour trail], where you ca n stili enjoy breathtaking views in the cool breeze rising from the lake. The ancient paving and the blackened stone of the retaining walls stili tell the story of men and trade, of goods carried on their backs with immense effort. When you eventually get to the top, the terrace where the cableway was installed in the late 191h century rewards you with magnificent views. Up and down, down and up: one to reach the concealed harbour at the foot of the valley and on to the cotton mill in Campione, which once provided work for hundreds of people; the other to go up into the mountains to cut grass for the animals and wood for the fire. At sunset, when the pia in turns fiery red, the cluster of houses around the Castèl and the church welcomes you to its narrow streets and offers protection.
In Pieve, if you ask who is the most famous person born there, the first name you always hear is Arturo, as is “Arthur of the round steps”. His ancient, modest home has retained its originai structure, interior, windows and the outside steps
that he loved to sit on. lt is strangely round, the only o ne of its kind in the village. H e liked it so much that he preferred to be identified in this way, rather than using his surname. The inhabitants of Pieve have dedicated a square and a plaque in his honour.
Arturo Cozzaglio (1862-1950) is undoubtedly the most famous san of this harsh land. He attended primary school in Tremosine and secondary school in Brescia. He continued to study on his own, obtaining a surveyor’s diploma and qualifying to teach sciences. He taught at the officially-recognised lyceum in Desenzano from 1898 to 1908 and then worked as a technical designer and architect, devoting his time to studying physics, mathematics and geology. He designed the Porto-Pieve-Vesio road, he wrote newspapers articles, and his research and studies were published in Memorie dell’Ateneo di Salò and Commentari dell’Ateneo di Brescia, both yearly academic publications. Text by D. F.
