Vassena

Vassena - Oliveto Lario

Vassena is the largest of the villages that together form the municipality of Oliveto Lario. Starting from the banks of the lake, the town extends up the hills to the small hamlet of Alpetto, from where visitors can enjoy wonderful views across to the majestic peaks of the Grigne.

The first settlements in this area date back to the 10th century, when inhabitants of Mandello Lario came across the lake to farm the land, eventually staying permanently. Vassena was part of the parish of Mandello until 1498, when the town was permitted to have its own governor (podestà) and to administrate its own taxes.

In the summer of 1916, following the outbreak of the first world war, forty-seven soldiers from Vassena were called up to fight, leaving behind in the town only women, children and the elderly. In honour of this tragic sacrifice, the people of Vassena erected a chapel, situated in the hamlet of Castolo.

Vassena is home to the Oliveto Lario town council. Sites of interest in the upper town include the sanctuary dedicated to the Madonna del Carmine, containing a 17th century holy water font, and the parish church of Santi Nazaro e Celso, situated on the banks of the lake close to the small port of Vassena. The façade of this single nave church of likely medieval origin bears the inscription 1687. In subsequent periods the church, whose interior houses an interesting marble altar, underwent a series of restoration works, the last of which took place in 1865. The ferry service between Bellagio and Lecco, which serves the port of Vassena, runs in both spring and summer.