Moerna

Vistas at 360°

Borgo Moerna, the gateway to Val Vestino from Lake Idro in Valle Sabbia, amazes tourists with its houses encircled by carefully cut meadows. An old saying describes Moerna as “the flower of the world for the stranger.”

On reaching the San Rocco promontory, opposite the village, you can take in the unfolding valley in all its beauty, with the peaks of Monte Caplone and Monte Tombea with an altitude of almost 2000 metres. It is one of the most striking panoramic viewpoints in all of Val Vestino. Here stands the 18th-century church of San Rocco. Beside it is the Chalet San Rocco, a bar and restaurant, leisure centre and campsite. Near its accommodation, there is a lookout point with an information panel to help you identify the surrounding peaks.

Wandering through the village streets, you can see ravines, stone walls, two fountains, a washhouse, a shrine dedicated to the fallen in the cemetery, vegetable gardens between houses, farmed fields towards the hill of San Rocco and two flourishing livestock farms: Azienda Agricola Porta Andreina and Azienda Agricola Eggiolini Elia, producers of traditional Tombea cheese. Among the houses, the church dedicated to St. Bartholomew, dating back to the 15th century and renovated in 1867, is certainly of interest. It has frescoes dating back to the 16th century featuring the Lodron coat of arms: the Counts of Lodrone ruled over this area for a long time. A fresco with Byzantine influences depicts the Madonna and Child.

A must-see is the Botanical Museum named after Don Pietro Porta, a distinguished botanist originally from Val Vestino from whom we have inherited one of the most significant herbaria of Brescian plants featuring his most representative collection of local plant species. The building that served as the cooperative dairy, still visible in the ground floor exhibition. In addition to Don Porta’s work, the trail includes info panels, multimedia tools and films for those who wish to learn more about the local flora and other botanical features.