The Castle of Cavernago was built between the years of 1597 and 1610 on a site which had previously been a hamlet owned by the Canons of St Alexander’s Cathedral in Bergamo. The property was subsequently purchased by commander Bartolomeo Colleoni in 1470. Upon his death, the Cavernago estate then passed to Gerardo Martinengo who had married Colleoni’s daughter Ursina, and it was their fourth-generation grandson, Francesco Martinengo Colleoni, who was responsible for constructing the castle as we see it today. The Martinengo Colleoni family would continue to be present at the Castle through a succession of historical and family events until 1885, when the family line died out with the demise of Venceslao in Cavernago. A series of changes of ownership followed, resulting in a period of utter decline and complete abandonment by the end of the second world war. In 1950, together with the attached farm, the Castle was purchased by Prince Giovanni Maria Gonzaga, who subsequently began its full restoration and a programme of maintenance. The new owners have made the Castle of Cavernago their home for three generations now, and continue to take care of their property with passion and love.