The Visconti Tower hosts, from April 18th to May 17th, "Walking with the pioneers and their stories. A journey through the first 50 years of the CAI of Lecco through images and documents" organized by the CAI of Lecco and the Riccardo Cassin Foundation, in collaboration with the Municipality of Lecco and SiM.U.L, as part of the Municipality's exhibition program for 2026 and the "Monti Sorgenti" Review.

The exhibition, open until May 17th, is in continuity with the book that CAI Lecco wanted to give itself in 2024 for its 150th anniversary, offering a journey into the history of its origins by delving into the archives and library of the section, now finally organized and accessible, rediscovering old almost forgotten publications, enhancing some relics exhibited permanently in the museum space of Palazzo delle Paure dedicated to mountaineering in Lecco.

The panels on display faithfully reproduce some of the most significant pages of the book, starting with the memory of the noble fathers of our CAI: Antonio Stoppani, Mario Cermenati, Giovanni Pozzi, Giuseppe Ongania, alongside many other lesser-known figures who were also part of the great mountaineering movement that swept across Europe in the second half of the 19th century, leading to the establishment of Alpine Clubs in various countries. These are the men mentioned in the title as pioneers, capable of looking ahead and interested in finding a way to climb mountains, share their passion with others, promote mountaineering, build shelters, and mark trails.

We then find reports of mountain trips that convey the "alpine spirit" of the time, chronicles regarding the founding of Capanna Stoppani and Lecco, memories of events such as the XXX National Congress of Geology held in Lecco in 1911.

Alongside the narrative of words, there is the narrative of images with an original touch in combining contemporary photographs with old shots, maps, prints, and drawings. Scattered pages, footholds for exploration, reading, rereading. Above all, to understand. With the serene certainty that only this long, complex, and fascinating journey can explain the strength and endurance of the deep and unbreakable bond that the people of Lecco have been able to forge first with their mountains and then with mountains around the world.

The exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Mariarosa Frigerio, a passionate librarian for many years at the Uberto Pozzoli Civic Library in Lecco, who dedicated herself particularly to the library of CAI Lecco.