Santuario della Madonna di Martinello
Perched on a wooded spur above the hamlet of Martinello, a short but steep climb from Dongo, this small 16th-century Marian sanctuary is almost entirely unknown to visitors — yet it offers one of the most intimate, genuinely quiet viewpoints on the upper western shore of Lake Como, with the bonus of beautifully preserved votive frescoes inside the chapel.
Finding the sanctuary
From Dongo's upper village, follow the signs for Martinello along the narrow road that hairpins up through chestnut woodland; after roughly 2 km by car or a 35-minute walk on the footpath short-cutting the bends, you arrive at a small clearing where the sanctuary stands beside an ancient stone fountain still fed by a spring.
The chapel facade is modest — a simple rendered arch with a faded fresco of the Madonna above the door — but the position on the hillside means that the moment you turn around from the entrance you are looking straight down a corridor of trees to the blue surface of the lake far below.
The sanctuary is typically unlocked on Sunday mornings and on the feast of the Nativity of Mary (8 September), when a small local procession climbs from Dongo; at other times the exterior and the clearing are freely accessible and worth the walk alone.
The frescoes and the silence
When the chapel is open, step inside to see the cycle of ex-voto paintings covering the side walls — naive, vivid little scenes painted by local families over three centuries to give thanks for recoveries from illness, accidents on the lake and safe returns from war. They are folk art of the highest emotional charge.
The oldest frescoes on the apse date to the late 1500s and retain traces of the warm ochre and Venetian red palette typical of provincial Lombard painting of that period; they have never been restored and their faded, flaking surface feels more moving for it.
Outside, the clearing is shaded by mature chestnuts and absolutely silent except for birdsong and the occasional cowbell drifting up from a farm below — a complete contrast to the busy lakefront 300 metres below you.
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