At the foot of Monte Scanapà still stands the building that housed the machinery of the slittovia, one of the first ski lifts in the province of Bergamo: under the faded whitewash the lettering can still be read. It was neither a chairlift nor a cable car, but a sort of barge mounted on runners, with two benches and some fifteen skiers aboard, which went up while the other came down. Castione had come early to skiing: in 1913 the Italian Alpine Club held the national races here, when skiers in Italy were still counted in dozens.
The long name dates from 1863, when a royal decree added "della Presolana" to distinguish the village from the other Castione of the kingdom: the mountain you see from here ended up in the name and then in the coat of arms, together with the Castiglioni lion holding a castle. Today there are about three thousand five hundred inhabitants in the upper Val Seriana, with an economy split between winter tourism and the old habits of the mountains, the three hay cuts and the dry leaves gathered in October for the animals' bedding.
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📅 Every year, on 26 August; the annual chess festival
Castione della Presolana celebrates Saint Alexander on 26 August, in the church dedicated to him. The town also hosts an annual chess festival now of worldwide fame.
Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Outside Castione della Presolana, but an easy day trip away.
