LucadeaLuca is the creator of this site. He travels the world for work and loves taking photographs and sharing them with all his visitors.

Varese Ligure seen from Grecino Bridge.
From Grecino Bridge in Varese Ligure, Liguria, Italy, I photographed the houses of the village as they face the Vara river, showing a side of the historic center that is normally hidden from view. This different perspective was what made me stop and take the photograph.
When walking through Varese Ligure, it is natural to follow the streets of the historic center and look at the houses from their more familiar side. From Grecino Bridge, however, the view changes completely. The photograph shows what could almost be called the back of the buildings along the carrugio, facing the river and forming a much quieter view of the village.
I wanted to capture this particular angle because it offered a different way of looking at Varese Ligure. It is not necessarily the image most people associate with the village, but that is exactly what I like about it. The houses appear different when seen from the opposite side, and details that are easy to miss while walking through the main street suddenly become visible.
Grecino Bridge is one of the historic elements worth noticing when exploring Varese Ligure. Crossing the Vara river, it provides a distinctive viewpoint over the village and makes it easier to understand the relationship between the houses, the river and the surrounding landscape. If you are looking for things to see in Varese Ligure beyond its famous square, this is a small but interesting place to stop.
Piazza Fieschi is probably the most recognizable image of the village. Its unusual elliptical shape gives it a very distinctive appearance and is also connected with Varese Ligure’s nickname, the “round village”. But there is much more to photograph here than the famous square.
I am particularly interested in these less obvious viewpoints. When I photograph a village, I do not necessarily look for the classic postcard composition. I like walking around, changing direction and seeing how the buildings change when viewed from another position. Sometimes crossing a bridge is enough to reveal an entirely different side of a place.
Here the Vara river almost becomes a line separating two ways of seeing the village. From the streets, the houses are part of the everyday walking experience. From the bridge, the secondary façades, walls and architectural details become the main subject instead.
That is what caught my attention. The back of a building may not have the same formal appearance as its main façade, but it can reveal how the houses are actually connected to the landscape. In Varese Ligure, the river is an important part of that relationship.
A small historical detail I find interesting is the distinctive planning of Piazza Fieschi. Its regular elliptical form is one of the defining features of the village, while the surrounding historic buildings preserve traces of different periods of development. The result is a place where the shape of the streets, the architecture and the presence of the river all contribute to its identity.
Looking at this photograph, though, I am less interested in turning the scene into a historical explanation and more interested in the effect of perspective. The same building can look completely different from a street, a square or the opposite bank of a river.
This is something I often notice when photographing villages and narrow streets in Liguria. An earlier photograph might show a familiar façade, while moving only a few dozen meters can reveal another composition entirely. That is one reason I enjoy returning to places I have already photographed: there is no guarantee that I will see them in the same way twice.
Grecino Bridge therefore seems interesting to me not only as a way of crossing the Vara river, but also as a small viewpoint over Varese Ligure. The photograph came from that simple observation, away from the better-known image of the village.
If I return here, I would probably look for more views along the river, following its course and seeing how the houses change from one position to another. These small changes of perspective often lead to the photographs that stay in my memory longest.
This image also connects naturally with other stories on my blog about Ligurian villages, where I have tried to photograph not only the most famous views but also narrow streets, bridges and architectural details encountered while walking. Over time, these photographs become a kind of visual diary of Liguria, made up of well-known places as well as quieter corners.
For anyone wondering where to look for a different view of Varese Ligure, Grecino Bridge offers exactly that kind of opportunity. It does not compete with Piazza Fieschi; instead, it shows another side of the same village and makes the relationship between the historic buildings and the river easier to appreciate.

Have you ever stopped on Grecino Bridge to look at the hidden side of the houses along Varese Ligure’s carrugio? Add a comment or go to the bottom of the site to read what other visitors have written.

Photo taken with a Canon EOS M100 camera and a Canon EF-S 10-18 lens.

I also shot a nice video while walking across the bridge:

Video recorded with a GoPro Hero5.

To see all the photos I took in Varese, click here:

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