The vast mountainous territory has a narrow valley bottom with high and steep knolls and slopes entirely covered by thick beech, fir, larch, birch and alder woods, which ‘dress’ the whole slope with a beautiful green, softening the roughness. Gradually, from the bottom of the valley the terrain climbs and levels out with flatter sections that open up in the guise of an amphitheatre from which houses and cultivation rises, ending with the peaks of the two mountains: to the north is Grem (2,049 metres), to the south west Mount Alben (2,019) which imposes its massive bulk on the entire valley.

All the inhabited areas are at over 700 metres, and being exposed from morning ‘till noon, surrounded by meadows and woods, offering visitors magnificent walks. The Riso stream flows to the foot of Grem near Cantoni and divide the territory into two almost equal parts, broadening itself with a contribution of other nearby valleys, in particular Val Noseda and Val Piana terminating its course as a right hand tributary of the River Serio. The resultant beneficial waters of the River Riso has for centuries driven a number of mills, a forge and a ‘track’, contributing substantially to the development of the municipality’s economy.

But according to other sources the name comes from the fact that there was a bridge over the Nossa stream that ended its run by flowing into the Serio in the village. The valley through which the water flowed was called the Nossana and was rich in deposits of zinc extracted from numerous mines now in disuse. Exploiting the energy of the Nossa’s water produced many hammers for metal work, some of which were still in operation until a few years ago and it is possible to visit the Museum of the Magli.

In more recent times, major textile and mining companies have given the village a typically industrial flavour. Unfortunately, the two most significant and long established factories have ceased operations. The Annunciazione di Maria Parish Church was built in 1462 and re-structured in the early 20th century. It is a place of pilgrimage and an object of popular veneration due to the miracle of the crying Madonna, which is said to have taken place on 2 June 1511 and was documented by a notary act at the time. The Madonna is shown with St. John in a polyptych, reproducing crucifixion of Christ and is well kept.

In April, people cut down a fir tree in the woods of the area after which it is decorated and paraded through the streets of the village, where it is blessed on the church square; after having been carried to the summit of Pizzo Guazza, on 1 May it is planted at the side of the Madonna’s statue. On the evening of 1 June, the fir is then cut down and burned, while in the valley the village prepares for the Appearance of the Madonna of the Tears celebration, which takes place on 2 June and includes singing and dancing accompanied by a firework display.

The municipality is divided into these areas: Campolungo, Ponte or San Bernardino, Capra Bassa, Capra Alta, Oltre Serio (Spiazzi, Scalvina) and Prealpina Inferiore.

Over 900 metres of grazing land and shepherds’ huts are strewn across the slopes and rocky crests that reach up to an altitude of the 2,512 metre Pizzo Arera. The village is one of the oldest in the Valle Seriana: as revealed in the Latin documents written by Primolus and Primulus deducing that Premolo is the equivalent of primus locus; those who read of the geographic configuration of the village love to see the mole or breakwater that juts out to the left above the River Serio on the valley floor: Pizzo Formico is written in medieval Latin Pre Molum, the village that opens out in front of the mountain opposite Mount Molo.

Archaeological finds of the remains of skeletons and a number of flint tools were discovered in 1963 at the Canal D’Andruna, a ravine used for burials in the Bronze Age in Valle Dossana testify to the presence of man as early as 3,000 years BC. The origin of the S. Andrea parish church dates back to 1290. Two religious festivals are close to the villagers’ hearts: they are those of the patron Saint Andrea, which is celebrated on the last Sunday of November and that for joint patron saint S. Defendente, which takes place on the first Sunday of September and is in memory of the vote of 2 January 1630, enabling the Premolo people to be protected from the scourge of the plague.

On the borders between Premolo and Parre there is the source of the Nossa stream, a tributary of the River Serio. That location is on the floor of the most important valley, the Dossana. The visible rocks are an open book where one can read the natural phenomena which, in the various geological periods, helped shape the valley: from the presence of a vast tropical sea in which the rocks packed with fossils were formed, the surfacing accompanied by volcanic elements, of our mountains from the bottom of the sea, under the impact of cyclopean primordial forces. In the course of this long geological evolution pervaded by the fracture of the rocks and enriched them with minerals and metals. So today, the Val Dossana is a real living geological tract.

Once the necessary emancipation had been completed at the end of the 12th century, the municipality was instituted and governed by two consuls. After having been subjected to the consequences of the civil war and the alternation of the various rules, the upper Valle Seriana, of which Parre has always been a part, sent its representatives to Venice to declare the valley’s to His Serene Highness and to request help and protection. The domination of the Republic of Venice, characterised by the conservation of the institutions already in operation, ended in 1797 with the arrival of the French troops. Neither the subsequent Austrian domination nor the events of the Risorgimento have ever upset the people of Parre much, as they have always shown a “generally quiet public spirit”.

For centuries, Parre was an area of farmers and shepherds, who took the flocks to Oltrepò Pavese and Piedmont in the winter and roamed the Valtellina and Poschiave valleys with them in the summer, after which they supplied wool to Gandino and various other wool mills of the valley. The village has retained its division into two distinct residential areas intact, lower Parre (Par sota in the Bergamascan dialect) and upper Parre (Par sura) and has expanded, to take in almost all the hamlets such as Agher, Costa Erta, Campella and Valzella, which were once embroiled in agriculture. Picturesque traces of this distant past still remain in the form of old houses with strong stone walls, attractive balconies, windows, pillars and arches, like the Cominelli House in lower Parre, home of the Barons Belleboni, who became the Princes Von Paar in Austria; or those next to the Arch of St. Cristoforo or in Via Tiraboschi.

But the most relevant artistic treasures are kept in the churches – the parish dedicated to S. Pietro and the small church of St. Rocco, Enchanting due to their environment and the view are the 16th – 18th century Orotorio SS. Trinità on Mount Cusen and that of the 17th century S. Antonio on Mount Alino.

But for those who visit Cerete the village has another pleasant surprise: its identity marked by the ancient passage of industrious, nobles and influential people. For instance, one could discover traces of tracts of steep cobbled roads still partially limited by paving stones near the mills that have survived, still obstinately in working order despite the rigours of past centuries.

In 1905, Baradello wrote, “Perhaps no Bergamascan village has as many murals as Cerete Alto. On the walls of the houses, at the roadside it is a real display of ancient paintings”. And it was exactly like that both inside and outside the houses until a few decades ago. Especially in the two parish churches, the Sanctuary della Nativita di Maria in Novezio and the sepulchral chapel of the noble Marinoni family in Cerete Alto – the art is real, representing some of the most significant names of all times and where roots were put down copiously and deeply.

The village is at the foot of a natural escarpment exposed to the south, which is the limit of an ancient fluvioglacial ‘terrace’, its area at an elevation of about 50 metres and stands at an altitude of 700 metres. The entire plain comprises recently terraced alluvions separated by small morphological escarpments from the current alluvion belts by two streams, around 20 metres lower down. Onore is surrounded by hills and mountains, among them Mount Cornet (1,429 metres), Vallevrina Point (1,401), Campo Peak (1,365), the Pù (841) and Falecchio (904) high plains. Like many other villages and towns in Italy and the rest of Europe, the origin of the name Onore can be found in the kind of pine woods that were prevalent in its area: the alder, which is unés in the Bergamascan dialect. That is the most credible hypothesis even if there are more recent ones that suggest Onore is a derivative of Lanorium (village of wool) and subsequently Honore (a complex of feudal rites). The village’s main attraction in an artistic sense is certainly its S. Maria Assunta parish church, of which the patron festival day is 15 August, which was built in the 18th century on high ground at the entrance to the residential area to a project mooted by Andrea Fantoni. In 1909 the church was lengthened under the direction of architect Elia Fornoni, who added an interior atrium limited by a monumental Serliano arch. The smaller churches are also interesting from the traditional point of view, including the S. Antonio Abate on the road to the Val de Tede and the S. Antonio da Padova in the Righensol area.

On the wall of one house in Onore, one can admire a large fresco of S. Alberto cutting grass with a scythe.

The Onore coat of arms embodies symbols of its activities: at the top are spindles for spinning wool, below is a pine wood and a sheep to recall the village’s agricultural past.

Mount Falecchio and the Pizzo Formica chain have no intermediate mountains, since downhill there is the River Borlezza. The plain is called Agro (Agher) and at the bottom of it there is San Lorenzo. From a study carried out by Professor Rocco Zambelli all of this area, which extends from Castione della Presolana to Clusone and Lovere, was originally under the sea until it gradually emerged and its definitive movement took place around 20 million years ago, revealing Dolomite-like rock. In ancient times, the streams ran over different routes. For example, the River Serio flowed past the Cantoniera della Presolana and flooded the land from Castione to Clusone. The situation gradually modified itself so that the Serio changed its course, but another stream that flowed towards Sovere slowly started to erode the land and that is how the current Valle Borlezza was formed, where the stream started at one stage to cut an underground river bed that came out behind Castro. Two million years ago the Valle Borlezza took its essential line and the stream continued to transport material, softening the surroundings. With the passing of time, that material became solid to create a kind of highly prized marble that was later used for the construction of altars for the area’s churches. There were also glaciations to which the Valle Borlezza resisted, but it still influenced the formation of the Formico chain’s rock, in that by the water continually freezing and melting it became brittle.

This is a Valle Seriana town about 100 kilometres from Milan and 45 from Bergamo. It nestles in the Orobic pre-alps and has extensive territory covering 42 square kilometres, with altitudes ranging from the 780 metres of the Gera stream to 1,297 metres of the Passo della Presolana, then climbing to the 2,521 metres of the Pizzo della Presolana. The villages of Bratto, Dorga, Lantana and Rusio are all part of the Castione municipality.

The town’s geographic position is especially interesting and has been a mecca of both summer and winter tourism since the early 20th century, offering a whole range of attractions to suit all tastes and interests. Castione della Presolana has a rich alpine tradition associated with the mountain from which it takes its name, and more recently the numerous practice walls for the sport of climbing, among which the best known are in the Valle dei Mulini and the Corna Rossa.

Castione’s environmental characteristics are typical of mountain territory and that combines with a dry and healthy climate. The vegetation and fauna typical of a pre-alp zone are extremely varied and the flora also includes many rarities. There is also significant archaeological evidence of the recovery of a number of tombs that date back to the Neo-Eneolithic period, while the churches of the area embody historic and artistic testimonies of considerable value. Also of great importance is the ancient rural architecture, a true minor art, which has repeated for centuries layouts and structures marked by an essential sobriety.

Mentioning the renowned Fanzago planetary clock raises another element that characterises Clusone: time. From that point of view, a visit to the Marinoni Barca building is a must as it is the centre of the Museum of Art and Time, which is well known throughout Europe for its significant collection of tower clock mechanisms dating from the 14th to the 20th century; and visitors should not overlook the considerable collection of paintings and sculptures by Clusone artists who later became famous, such as Carpinoni, Cifrondi, Nazzari, Querena, Trussardi Volpi and others. Clusone also stands for uncontaminated alpine nature: in fact, taking the equipped paths visitors can immerse themselves in woods, pine forests and pastures taking excursions, horse riding or mountain biking.

There is a multiplicity of routes to take: from the town, one can walk up to S. Lucio at about 1,000 metres to enjoy an unequalled view of the entire upper Valle Seriana and the Dolomite-like Mount Presolana, which become even more impressive moving on to Pizzo Formico at 1,650 metres. Or one could select more demanding routes, taking advantage of the nearby Orobic path that crosses all the mountains of the same name, from Refuge Laghi Gimelli to Refuge Albani. In addition, Clusone is a well positioned starting point for the alpine ski runs of Mount Pora, the Passo della Presolana and Colere, all of them just a few minutes away as are various other ski stations. Then there is the Nordic ski ring at which world cup competitions have been held; and Lake d’Iseo is just as easy to reach at about 15 kilometres away.

On 10 July 2008, Clusone received the Bandiera Arancione (Orange Flag) awarded by the Touring Club Italiano.