Sala al Barro

Sala al Barro lies on the western slopes of Monte Barro, beside Lago d’Annone in Lombardy. The old centre sits just above 242 metres, while newer districts like Selvetto and Maré climb to 310 metres. A small river, the Cologna, flows down from the mountain, runs under the village centre and empties into the lake. The provincial road 342b keeps the water just out of sight. The village grew from a Lombard hall called Sala and took its full name from the mountain it leans against. The village was once a medieval dependency of Civate, then an independent commune under Monte di Brianza. By 1751 it counted 304 people, and its numbers rose to 443 by 1871. The industrialist Pedro Vasena built Villa Vasena Ronchetti in 1906, mixing eclectic and Art Nouveau styles with wrought-iron balconies and floral scrolls. A railway station on the Como–Lecco line still serves the area. Visitors find the parish church of Santa Maria Assunta and the villa’s iron balconies wrapped in climbing plants. Paths lead up Monte Barro through the Parco Naturale del Monte Barro, where the mountain’s slopes drop steeply to the flat lake shore. The contrast between the quiet village, the busy railway line and the wild park above makes the place easy to reach yet quietly removed from the road.