Bormio

Bormio lies in the upper Valtellina, among the high mountains at the head of the Adda valley. Its hot springs were known to Roman visitors, while roads over the Alps made the town a trading centre between northern Italy and lands beyond the mountains. In the Middle Ages it was the seat of a county encompassing several neighbouring valleys.

A charter of 1377 restored Bormio's autonomy and privileges under its podestà. For two centuries the route linked Venice and Milan with northern Europe. Tolls on passing goods helped sustain its prosperity, but in 1487 the Three Leagues besieged the town. Bormio came under their rule in 1512. In 1797, during Napoleon's Italian campaign, the county was joined with Valtellina to the Cisalpine Republic, ending its old separate position.