Luigi Guanella was born in Fraciscio di Campodolcino on 19 December 1842 to Lorenzo Guanella and Maria Bianchi.
During his First Communion, on 8 April 1852 in Gualdera, he experienced a spiritual event that deeply marked his life: an apparition of the Virgin Mary, who foretold a future dedicated to charity. He was ordained a priest on 26 May 1866 and celebrated his first Mass in Prosto di Piuro. During his journey, he encountered the Cottolengo institution and with Don Bosco, with whom he collaborated for several years within the Salesian Society.

Later recalled by the Bishop of Como, he continued his ministry in various parishes until arriving in Pianello del Lario. In 1886, he founded the Congregation of the daughters of Saint Mary of Providence in Como and, together with the Servants of Charity (the Guanellians), established numerous charitable works dedicated to the poor, the elderly and the marginalized in Italy, the United States and Switzerland. He died in Como on 24 October 1915; he was beatified by Pope Paul VI in 1964 and canonised by Pope Benedict XVI in 2011.

In Fraciscio, visitors can explore the saint’s birthplace, built by his father Lorenzo in the first half of the nineteenth century. Purchased by the Guanellians in 1948 and restored over time, the house preserves simple spaces rich in memory: the stüa where the family prayed together, the room where Luigi was born and the room where, after returning from the seminary, he prayed and studied beneath a ceiling painted by his own hand with a vision of Heaven.

In front of the house stands a monument by Alfredo Vismara (2005), depicting Luigi and his sister Caterina as children pretending to prepare soup for the poor. This simple scene reflects the lesson taught by their parents: sharing with those in need. It is the same message that Don Guanella later entrusted to his spiritual children: “The whole world is your homeland.”

Built between the 17th and the early 18th century, the house takes its name from one of its last owners. Today, owned by the Comunità Montana della Valchiavenna, Cà Bardassa hosts the local branch of the ethnographic museum, offering a vivid testimony to mountain life and traditional rural dwellings.

The large, pitched roof covered with piòte stone slabs spans the entire building, separating the living quarters from the hay barn. On the lower ground floor, four rooms once used as stables housed cows, goats, pigs and chickens, while the entrance leads into a spacious central corridor known as the àndit, from which all rooms and the wooden staircase to the upper floor can be accessed.

The kitchen, with its stone walls and large fireplace, sits beside the stüa, the jewel of the house, entirely panelled in larch wood and decorated with fine details. The stüa connects to the smaller stüin bedroom and is heated by a masonry stove known as the pigna. Upstairs, additional rooms and the large two-storey hay barn are linked by an original wooden gallery that runs through the building, combining practicality with architectural harmony.

Visiting Cà Bardassa means walking through spaces that once formed a living home, experiencing the balance between work and domestic life, and discovering the ingenuity and care with which mountain communities shaped a dwelling that continues to tell the story of a people and their identity.

The Museum of the Via Spluga and Val San Giacomo is housed in a historic 16th-century building in the hamlet of Corti, Campodolcino. Its walls tell the story of the valley and the essential role played by the Via Spluga as a vital connection between the Mediterranean world and the lands north of the Alps. More than a road, it represented centuries of exchange, encounters and transformation.

The museum features sections dedicated to traditional trades, winter tourism, rural dwellings, women’s work, traditional games and the trade activities that once animated the Via Spluga. Each room offers a glimpse into everyday life, preserving the memory of simple yet essential gestures.

The exhibition route passes through historic spruce-wood stüe, authentic examples of Alpine craftsmanship, including a remarkable room dating back to 1576. Here, the scent of wood still evokes domestic life and centuries of history.
Within the building, at the end of the 19th century, Saint Luigi Guanella founded the Opera Pia S. Antonio, a vocational school that offered local young women the opportunity to learn sewing, embroidery—including the refined Cantù lace tradition—as well as wood and straw craftsmanship. It was a project rooted in hope, opportunity and education.

On the upper floor, the scientific section focuses on the natural environment, featuring a laboratory dedicated to water and energy. Visitors can also explore the carefully restored 18th-century Chapel of Saint Anthony, a peaceful space where silence encourages reflection and history becomes contemplation.