Cavernago

The Castello di Cavernago was built between 1597 and 1610 on the site of an earlier building owned by the Canons of the Cathedral of Sant’Alessandro in Bergamo at Colle Aperto.

The first records of the building date back to 1234 when a certain Salvo di Bellebon sold the entire property, house included, to the priest Redulfo di Ghisalba, who purchased it in the name and on behalf of the Chapter of Bergamo. The Canons cultivated the land and improved the house but nothing more until, in 1341, they disposed of the estate, which passed to a wealthy man whose only known name was Guglielmo, son of Pietro Assonica. It was one of his successors who sold the entire property a century later to Bartolomeo Colleoni in a notarial deed dated 15th July 1470. Upon his death, Bartolomeo Colleoni, who had no male heirs, left his property and his surname to his three sons-in-law – Giacomo, Gherardo and Gaspare Martinengo – who had married three of his daughters – Caterina, Ursina and Isotta – and who had fought alongside him as captains in many battles.

Gherardo took possession of the Cavernago estate. His grandson, now in the fourth generation, Francesco Martinengo Colleoni then built the Castello as it appears today. Francesco, a man of arms and a military engineer, had been in the service of the Dukes of Savoy all his life – Emanuele Filiberto first followed by Carlo Emanuele – but under their licence, he had also fought against Suleiman’s Turks in Malta, under the flag of the Serenissima. It was in Venice that he found the design by Sansovino (Jacopo Tatti) for the large courtyard with a double loggia that characterises the interior of the castle. Francis was also a fine diplomat and man of culture. In 1608, he hosted Francesco IV Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, in Cavernago, who was on his way to meet his bride, Beatrice di Savoia, daughter of Carlo Emanuele. For three days, he offered feasts and tournaments, the memory of which became the stuff of legends. To ennoble the castle, he called in painters Giacomo Barbello from Lodi and Gian Battista Azzola, who frescoed the rooms. The presence of the Martinengo Colleoni clan was to continue for over 200 years through various historical and family events until the bloodline died out in 1885 with the death of Venceslao in Cavernago. A few changes of ownership followed, ending with a period of total decay and complete abandonment after the last war. In 1950, the Castello was purchased, along with the attached farm, by Prince Giovanni Maria Gonzaga, who began its restoration and maintenance.
For three generations, these new owners passionately and lovingly made it their home and the object of their care.