The name most likely comes from the silvae castanae, the chestnut woods: only the stress separates it from the tree, falling here on the first syllable, Càstano. Another tradition traces it to Castro Casteno and has the village grow around a castle. The arms hold both readings together: an open silver castle crossed by a green tree whose trunk shows through the gateway. The oldest document naming Casteno is a deed of 712, a donation by the Lombard king Liutprand to the Pavia monastery of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro, which held land here.
The castle stood where the church of San Zenone stands now: a chapel to the same saint was already there in 974, and the square bell tower on its southern side suggests one of the fortress towers. In the fifteenth century the fief went to the Visconti di Brignano, who held it until the eighteenth; one of them, Francesco Bernardino, has been identified with the Innominato of Manzoni's novel. After unification, by decree of Victor Emmanuel II, "Primo" was added to tell the village from a smaller namesake in the province of Pavia.
No events match these filters.
📅 Every year, on the last Sunday of October; the Feast of the Crucifix is held every 25 years
Castano Primo celebrates Saint Zeno on the last Sunday of October. The Feast of the Holy Crucifix, the most deeply felt religious event in the whole area, has been held every 25 years since the mid-19th century and draws thousands of people from the town, nearby villages and the whole province.
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 Castano Primo, but an easy day trip away.
