Before leaving Lecco, buy the Caviadini, typical shortbread biscuits: you will be useful for hypoglycaemic boosts during the journey. Here again is the Adda, bordered by the cycling path which passes near Lake Garlate: imagine seeing the Lucia dei Promessi Sposi pass here by boat to escape the ‘Innominato’ or Nameless, because this was his journey.

It is also the land of silk production and cultivation of berries on rows of mulberry trees: the Silk Museum Abegg reminds you of this with its collection of machinery, from 1700.
The landscape becomes increasingly flat with the pre-Alps behind and the Adda undaunted alongside. Enter the territory where Leonardo exercised his genius, along with the Paderno canal: the Ecomuseum Adda di Leonardo. It is composed of different places, calls "Sale" as in a classic museum, untied by the Renaissance Master’s thread.
In Imbersago get on the ferry that connects to Villa d'Adda, which moves without an motor, or admire the dam of Robbiate built in 1920 to divert the waters of the River Adda into Edison canal that feeds the hydroelectric stations Esterle (1914) and Bertini (1898); which at the time was the second in the world for capacity after the American Niagara Falls and contributed to give the first source of hydroelectric power to the city of Milan.

In Paderno pass over the bridge of San Michele that joins to Calusco: a masterpiece of industrial archaeology, everything made in iron and without welding; a giant 85 meters high, built with the same techniques and contemporary of Tour Eiffel. The Paderno canal runs alongside the ravine of the River Adda, wild and impetuous in periods of high water levels and non-navigable; halfway through the canal you will encounter the promontory of the Sanctuary della Rocchetta, a magnificent location of sighting and defensive dating back to the Romanesque period; at its feet the ancient Stallazzo renews its mission of hospitality at the service of modern travellers.
Look carefully to find the room of the Ecomuseum made by the Taccani Hydroelectric Plant: it is perfectly camouflaged with the surrounding environment, which houses the Visconteo Castle of Trezzo sull'Adda, from 1370.
But what leaves you really amazed is the UNESCO site of Crespi d'Adda, a typical example of an industrial village of 800: built around the factory, it provided the workers with houses, schools, services, even a swimming pool. The last room of the Ecomuseum you see is the Home of the Keeper of the Waters: the basement houses the interactive gallery Leonardo in the Adda.

Cassano d'Adda is announced by a huge wheel of a wooden mill: make a stop to visit the majestic Villa Borromeo with its rich halls and the park of 7 hectares, and admire the medieval architecture of the castle that dominates the Adda.
Follow the course of the river that is channelled into the Martesana canal that goes straight into the centre of Milan: built in 1400, it seems that even here there is the hand of Leonardo.