Of the castle of Pianico there remain the fortified enclosure, a vineyard, some vegetable plots and a high-voltage pylon, all on the same sheer rocky hill. The first records are of 25 June 1222, when several members of the Codoferri family gave to the city of Bergamo what they owned in their castles of Solto and of Pianico; a notarial deed of 1364 names it again, together with the church of San Zenone. The village was built around that fortification and the upper part is still called Castello, while the nickname castellani has stuck to the inhabitants: in the eighteenth century a certain Cristoforo Moretti was known by exactly that name.
The ground, on the other hand, tells a much older story. Pianico is full of fossils, of finds and of minerals — lignite and clay — and the reason is that in prehistoric times there was a lake basin here, which extended also over the area of Sellere, today in the comune of Sovere. In written history the decisive step is an edict of 1168, by which the territory was ceded to the bishop of Bergamo in acknowledgement of favours done during the peace treaties; then came the centuries of the struggles between Guelphs and Ghibellines, which ended only with the annexation to Venice. In front of the parish church stands a bell tower that before belonging to a church belonged to a fortification.
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📅 Every year, on 12 April
On 12 April Pianico, a municipality of 1,512 inhabitants in the province of Bergamo, celebrates its patron Saint Zeno; the Riserva Naturale Valle del Freddo lies in its territory.
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 Pianico, but an easy day trip away.
