Castione Andevenno

The village's name comes from a castle that was called that because it was the small one. Between 1118 and 1127, during the war between Como and Milan, many people from the Como country took refuge in the Valtellina: at Andevenno the Paravicini and the de' Capitanei settled, the latter already owners of the Castel Masegra at Sondrio. On a rise near Andevenno the de' Capitanei had a smaller structure built and fortified, and for that very reason they called it the «Castiglione». From there comes Castione, which in time became the comune's main centre; its remains can still be seen near the former church of San Rocco. Andevenno, on the other hand, is older: it appears as early as the Lombard diplomatic code of 992.

Until the nineteen-sixties life here meant moving three times a year. The livestock — the Brown Alpine cattle — needed pasture, and so winter was spent in the village, spring and autumn at mid-altitude, at the maggenghi, and summer up in the mountains. The comune stretches from the valley floor, where it touches the Adda, to the watershed with the Val Torreggio, and reaches the 2272 metres of the summit of Monte Rolla; but the band where people actually live is the low one, between the river and the height of the vineyards.