Lombardy · Bergamo
Cornello dei Tasso
A car-free medieval frazione of Camerata Cornello in the Val Brembana, reachable only on foot, built around the family that ran Europe's first integrated postal network.
- Best time
- May–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 34 min from Brescia
- Population
- 50
Known for
POSTAL ORIGINS
Birthplace of the Tasso family, founders of the first integrated European postal network from the 1490s, surviving as Thurn und Taxis until 1867.
CAR-FREE
No road into the village, reached only by a medieval stone-paved mule path from the valley below.
TORQUATO TASSO
Ancestral home of Bernardo and Torquato Tasso (Gerusalemme Liberata).
When to visit
Best · May–Oct
- J7°
- F10°
- M10°
- A13°
- M17°
- J22°
- J25°
- A25°
- S20°
- O16°
- N11°
- D7°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Cornello dei Tasso is a frazione of Camerata Cornello in the upper Val Brembana, hung on a rocky terrace 691 metres above the Brembo river. There is no road into the village: cars stop at the church of San Bartolomeo on the valley road, and the rest is on foot, along a stone-paved mule path climbing through chestnut woods.
The family that gave the village its name was born here in the 12th century and, starting in the 1490s, built and operated its network from a base in Bergamo, eventually serving the Habsburg empire. The village itself sits as a single terraced street: stone houses with wooden balconies, vaulted alleys, and a small square in front of the parish church, all reached the same way, on foot, with the museum near one end of it.
What makes the place unusual is the mismatch between its size and its reach: a settlement small enough to cross on foot in minutes once ran the postal arteries of an empire, and its access still has not changed since.
The Sunday letter
Cornello dei Tasso is on our list. Its letter is still to come.
We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter every Sunday: the photo, the food, the festa. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Cornello dei Tasso comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Pietrasanta.
Read on
Cornello dei Tasso in our articles
The best mountain towns within two hours of Milan6 towns, Cornello dei Tasso among them.
10 Borghi più belli d'Italia that stay empty anyway10 towns, Cornello dei Tasso among them.
The best mountain towns within two hours of Brescia10 towns, Cornello dei Tasso among them.
The best small mountain towns in Italy above 500 metres, all of them213 towns, Cornello dei Tasso among them.
How to get there
From Milan (BGY), about 1 hour by car.
Verona (VRN) is about 2h 15m away.
By car from the centre of Brescia 1h 34m.
Coming by train into Bergamo? Cornello dei Tasso is about 59 minutes away by road.
What to see
Museo dei Tasso e della Storia Postale
Museum tracing the Tasso family's postal network century by century, with original postal markings, route maps and uniforms on display.
Chiesa dei Santi Cornelio e Cipriano
12th-century parish church on the village's small piazza, dedicated to the two early-Christian martyrs whose names the village carries.
Mulattiera medievale
The only access to the village, a stone-paved medieval mule path climbing from the valley road through chestnut woods to the terrace.
Casa natale dei Tasso
The family's ancestral home, where the poet Bernardo Tasso and his son, author of Gerusalemme Liberata, trace their lineage.
The slow-trip planner
Building a trip? Find where Cornello dei Tasso fits in a slow Italy circuit.
Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.
Living here
- Population 50
- In-betweeni
- Pharmacy: none mapped
- Nearest high school over ~30 minutes away
- Nearest airport Milan, 1 h 4 min drive
- Regional capital Milano, 1 h 41 min drive
Common questions
- What is Cornello dei Tasso known for?
- Cornello dei Tasso is a car-free medieval frazione of Camerata Cornello in the Val Brembana, reachable only on foot, built around the family that ran Europe's first integrated postal network.
- Where is Cornello dei Tasso?
- Cornello dei Tasso is a comune in the province of Bergamo, in Lombardy, at 691 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Cornello dei Tasso?
- Milan (BGY), about 1 hour by car.
- How long is the drive from Brescia to Cornello dei Tasso?
- About 1h 34m by car.
- When is the best time to visit Cornello dei Tasso?
- Best in May–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 25 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 25 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Cornello dei Tasso?
- Castel di Tora, Anversa degli Abruzzi and Fontainemore.
- How many people live in Cornello dei Tasso?
- 50 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
Recognised as
The numbers
- Elevation: 691 m
- Population: 50
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
Similar
Towns like Cornello dei Tasso
Castel di Tora
Province: Rieti
both mountain-valley towns · both under 1,000 people
Anversa degli Abruzzi
Province: L'Aquila
both mountain-valley towns · both under 1,000 people
Fontainemore
Province: Aosta Valley
both mountain-valley towns · both under 1,000 people
Sellano
Province: Perugia
both mountain-valley towns · both under 1,000 people
Capranica Prenestina
Province: Roma
both mountain-valley towns · both under 1,000 people
Castelmezzano
Province: Potenza
both mountain-valley towns · both under 1,000 people
🎨 Borghi più belli d'Italia
More Borghi più belli d'Italia towns in Lombardy
Bagolino
Province: Brescia
A mountain village at 778 meters in the Valle del Caffaro, with a three-day February carnival of masked dancers and violins.
Bellano
Province: Lecco
An eastern shore town where the Pioverna cut a gorge through fifteen million years of rock before reaching the water.
Bienno
Province: Brescia
A medieval ironworking village where water hammers driven by the Grigna stream have shaped wrought iron since the 1200s.
Cassinetta di Lugagnano
Province: Milano
A commune west of Milan with fifteen surviving ville di delizia and Italy's first zero-growth urban plan, adopted in 2007.
Castellaro Lagusello
Province: Mantova
A walled medieval borgo south of Lake Garda, ringed by 13th-century stone walls and overlooking a small heart-shaped natural lake that gives the village its second name and most-photographed silhouette.