The population of Cene stands at 4,212 and it is located on the left bank of the River Serio at the outlet of the Valle Rossa and the slopes of Mount Altino. The centre, which is 15 kilometres north east of Bergamo, is formed by the fusion of two old villages called Lower Cene and Upper Cene, which have existed since 1035, and are separated by the Doppia stream. The original Latin name was Caenum meaning mud, indicating the area in which the River Serio stagnated. The name Cene appeared for the first time in a document dated 968 with the mention of Gaudeverto Capitaneus de Cene.

Cene’s strategic position ensured the village had a leading role in valley matters: in Roman times, fortifications and village walls were built, while in the medieval era no fewer than three castles with seven towers were constructed. The towers, however, were completely destroyed, but there are still some small parts of the castles visible today; they include the ruins of both the first at Castel on the slopes of Mount Bue, and the second on the side of Mount Pizzo. The third was on the site at which there is the parish church today, with its tower converted into a belfry. In this period, the village was divided into Upper Cene under the jurisdiction of the authorities of Gandino and the Ghibelline faction, and Lower Cene, which was placed under the protection of the Council Major of Albino, of the Guelph faction. The parish church was built in 1142 and is dedicated to San Zenone, later to be rebuilt in 1749 by architect Luca Lucchini di Certenago and extended in 1929.

In 1965, a landslide in Cene uncovered s small strata just a few centimetres wide packed with fossils, especially of fish and crustaceans; there were also flying reptiles called eudimorphodons and peteinosauruses. The fossilised strata dates back to the superior Triassic period and is made up of calcified rock. The abundance of marine life confirms that this area was at one time under the sea. However, the presence of the flying reptiles indicates that some sectors of land had emerged from the water. Finding the Cene fossilised strata, where a Paleontologist Park was opened, led to the discovery of more fossils similar to those of other Bergamascan and Brescian locations. As far as leisure time is concerned, it is obligatory to mention the cycle track of the Valle Seriana, which passes through municipalities along the course of the River Serio. Ideal for walks and riding bikes amid nature, far from traffic, permitting the rediscovery and enhancement of spaces once abandoned by negligence.

The first document that mentions the village (in vicis colligiate) dates back to 928. That term still exists today in the local dialect, where the name of the village is pronounced Colgiat. But it appears that the zone was inhabited in the times of the Roman Empire, to the point that prisoners sentenced to hard labour in the stone mines near Val del Riso stayed here. After having taken part in political destiny of the rest of the valley, in 1818 it absorbed Bondo and Barbata (Colzate) and in 1920 the parish was made autonomous.

The area offers numerous itineraries: visitors can start an easy and relaxing walk along the pedestrian/cycle track that was recently constructed as it winds along the banks of the River Serio; or they can take on excursions as far as Mount Cavlera. Anyone who does go for a walk in this area cannot miss the Sanctuary of San Patrizio above village in a position of absolute dominance. Built in 1570, the sanctuary has a square layout and Roman-style columns. Inside there are numerous frescoes and paintings, among them a pictorial cycle by Cavagna. The parish church dates back to 1000 and was dedicated to San Maurizio to protect it against the fears associated with that year. It was enlarged a number of times and underwent a major restoration in 1968. It hosts works by Andrea Fantoni, including the pained Madonna with Christ her lap, and a statue of the Virgin.

Among the events held in Colzate are the area’s palio: for about one month from the beginning of June the five areas – Bucaneve, Stella Alpina, Viola, Ciciamino and Margherita – challenge each other in games for children and adults. The palio ends with a day in Bondo at which the last races take place and a barbecue is organised for those who take part.

In the Province of Bergamo 20 kilometres from the capital, Fiorano al Serio has a population of 3,099. Covering an area of less than one square kilometre, it is the least extensive of the more than Lombardy Region’s 1,500 municipalities. Considered the smallest of the Valle Seriana villages, it is situated in a niche in the River Serio, at an altitude of 396 metres.

The first place name coined for Fiorano al Serio goes back to the year 840, when Floriano was mentioned in vico, derived from the aristocratic Roman Florius. In 1166, Barbarossa’s troops plundered and raised the village to the ground, and in medieval times, it became part of the Confederation of Honio, which was dissolved during the 13th century. The Guelph burned it in 1397 and 31 years later it came under the domination of the Serenissima. Under the hegemony of Napoleon Bonaparte, the village was made part of the Cisalpina Republic in 1797 and in 1814, after the fall of the republic, it was ruled by the Austrians until 1859, when it was annexed by the reign of Sardinia. From that moment on, the history of Fiorano has been entwined with that of the Municipality of Gazzaniga, of which it became a part in 1927 during the twenty years of Fascism, then acquired its autonomy once more in December 1947.

Vertova – Èrfa in the local dialect – is a municipality of 4,861 people in the Province of Bergamo about 21 kilometres from the provincial capital in the Valle Seriana, at the junction of the stream of the same name and the River Serio. The bridge shown in the municipality’s coat of arms is the San Carlo, the oldest in the country. Vertova’s name appears in a number of maps dating back to about 1,000; it is also in the constitutional documents and that of subsequent dissolution of the Confederation of Honio in the 11th century. The origin of the name has not been completely ascertained; some read it as the name of the Roman god Vertumno, while others feel it has German roots in the word Wert.

As early as medieval times, textiles were one of the area’s main products and it was with that at the start of the 20th century that industry came to the village. The closure of the big textile manufacturers after the deindustrialisation of the Eighties turned Vertova into a place in which the main productive activity comprised both artisan and small commercial operations. Valle Vertova, with its stream of the same name, is an area of naturalist interest and a local tourist destination as it is one of the most suggestive corners of the mid-Valle Seriana. The Vertova valley is embedded for 12 kilometres from Mount Cavlera and Mount Cedrina right through to the heart of Mount Alben.

Vertova has notable naturalistic and landscape aspects, especially the endemic animals and vegetation that exist exclusively in this area. There are numerous springs, spectacular cascades, gigantic gorges and potholes created over the centuries by the power of water; rough and inaccessible rocky peaks and gentle slopes covered with woods, fields, pastures and studded with characteristic rural settlements. The cart tracks are exclusively on the slopes of the eastern hills, connecting farms and agricultural-forestry areas of pertinence, without intruding on the wild part of the valley, which only has a dense network of paths and mule tracks.

The name Gagianiga comes from medieval Latin word gazzo, meaning a wooded area, Gageniga in the Bergamascan dialect. Prehistoric remains were found in the Corna Altezza cave above Rova at an altitude of 650 metres near the border with Aviatico: they consisted of graves of the Copper Age, ursus, marmot and fox. At the height of the medieval period Gazzaniga was part of Honio, a kind of federation comprising municipal areas of the mid-Seriana Valley formed for various purposes including economics and political. The confederation came to an end on 1263 on the instructions of the Chancellors of Bergamo.

Orders and statutes reached Gazzaniga, together with those of Rova and Fiorano, and were rediscovered by Antonio Tiraboschi. They were a copy of the original code that had been lost and was called Missalettus, dating back to 1260. The transcription is from 1748: the code is composed of 12 sheets containing 78 orders. The original is kept at the Civic Library of Bergamo section 5, 1/7).

The municipality’s coat of arms shows a magpie (gazza in Italian), which was derived from the name of the village.