A story born in 1986
President Salvatore Scordari, visibly emotional, retraced the steps of a journey that began in 1986, when he had just arrived in the village and accepted the challenge of leading the group, encouraged by his wife Claudia Mevio and his new Valtellina friends. In his speech, Scordari paid tribute to the founding members, delivering a gift to those present and to the families of those who are no longer with us.

Among the names remembered with warm applause were the founders Igino Ronchi, Iolanda Castelanelli, Bruna Garzetti, Laura Nemesi, Stella Augugliaro, Alberto Giudice, Franco Paggi, Erica Zucchetti and Marisa Delle Coste.

Special recognition also went to the current Board staff - Bruna Fiorina, Franca Gosatti, Loretta Caligari, Renato Gusmeroli and Riccarda Negrini - tireless driver of association activities.

The value of wisdom
Bringing greetings from the municipal administration was Deputy Mayor Luana Dorsa, who read a speech focusing on the profound meaning of the “Third Age”. “You are valuable to our community“he began, emphasising that the association is a
example of “continuous becoming” capable of uniting different generations through the desire to be together. The deputy mayor also praised the vitality of the members, mentioning the association's internal walking group.

Projects for tomorrow
Despite the important anniversary, the gaze is already turned to the future. President Scordari expressed the hope that the openness towards young people and others in the country, which has started in recent years, can be further consolidated. “Sbut for new people to join
to us with new enthusiasm and new ideas” concluded the president, symbolically making an appointment for everyone to meet in ten years' time to celebrate the association's half-century anniversary together.

Archive photo by Igino Ronchi and Franca Gosatti

Photo of 21 April 2026 by Franca Gosatti

L'articolo 40 ANNI DI TERZA ETÀ proviene da Ecomuseo Bianzone.

This event, in contrast to the nearby Sanctuary of the Madonna of Tirano, has never been officially recognised, however, a parchment memorial has been found that mentions the “The Apparition. The The manuscript in question was found in 1911 in the Fornonzini-Confortola house, now the site of the nursery school, by priest Federico Cattaneo, coadjutor with the title of spiritual bursar of the Madonna del Piano, and returned to the parish archives. The text reads:

Ad maiorem Dei gloriam et Beatissimae Virginis. Mariae. Ad perpetuam rei memoriam

“In the year one thousand six hundred and seventy-five, on the sixth day of April, Battista de Flagelli, or Fragiti di Bianzone, a simple and God-fearing man, as the Rt Rev. Provost was leaving his house to go and celebrate Mass, met me at the door of my house in the Rectory, all thoughtful and greeting me, said he had something important to discuss with me and I said: and what do you have to tell me?  He said, full of redness, that he did not dare to reveal it, because, being a sinful man, he did not know whether he would believe it, but in any case that he could not keep silent about it, because, after knowing it, he could not have rest or repose unless he revealed it. I pleaded with him, thinking he wanted to talk to me about something else, and he added:
The truth is that on the 26th day of the last month of March, which was the first day after the Annunciation of the Ever-Virgin Mary, after having commended myself to God and to his Most Holy Mother Mary at the beginning of the night, at about two o'clock in the morning, I was awake in bed and saw the poor, black house, in which I usually sleep, shining with rays and splendours greater than those of the Sun. Mother Mary at the beginning of the night, at about two o'clock, when I woke up and was in bed, I saw the poor black house in which I usually sleep shining with rays and splendours greater than those of the sun, indeed it seemed that the whole house was made of the finest gold, and I felt such pleasure in my soul It seemed as if I were in Paradise and among so many delights and splendours I heard a voice, and it seemed to me to be the Virgin Mary, if I saw her well, who said to me, go, announce to the Provost and to the people of Bianzone that in my honour they should have an altar raised and my temple situated here on this plain reduced to a more honourable state, Tell them that if they do so, I promise them my blessing and protection, otherwise they will beware of the chastisements that you are enduring and at that time, since I was infirm with a ruptured intestine, I felt healed as I am now healthy and I truly believe that it was the Blessed Virgin although I did not discern her among so many splendours, and I said they would not believe me, and I was warned that I should begin to lead stones and rocks and contribute something of my poverty, so I promised to give her two spoonfuls of wine, and at once I led a few cartloads of stones, and so at that moment that great splendour departed: I delayed till now because I did not dare to say it, since I am an abject person, poor and a great sinner, but finding no rest I was forced to say it, and I offer to endure any torment to confirm this truth. I then told him that he should seek out the Bianzone officials, and he replied that I wanted to tell them on his behalf and that he offered to appear and affirm the whole thing; I then went to celebrate Holy Mass and afterwards I spoke about it with my Lord Canons, that is to say the R Sig. Sig.P. Antonio Zanina, with Sig. P. Carlo Adda and with R. Sig. P. Giov. Nodari, who with other people went separately to meet the Baptist to inform him of the truth and to all replied the same, and after a few days I requested that the Council of this Mag.After a few days I requested that the Council of this Magistrate's College be assembled, since I wanted to speak to him about this success, and in the said Council, having explained everything as above, I told him that I could not canonically approve such an apparition, because this is to be done by the Lord Superiors, but in any case, since it is a pious and holy thing to restore the Church to a more honourable state, it would be good not to be against it, and that in doing this to the honour of the Virgin Mary, they could only expect great good.
So that Magical Council determined the adherir to these aids as follows...”.”

After the Apparition took place in the humble, blackened house of Battista De Flagelli, located close to Piazza Vanoni, a grandiose project to enlarge the Piano church was initiated, which also led to the construction of the present monumental façade that stands out from the view of those arriving from Sondrio.

The event is recounted in the following volumes:

• ‘From One Hail Mary to the Other’ by Vanda Cerveri
• Bianzone - The sanctuary of Madonna del Piano by Dante Sosio
• Bianzone caskets of art and culture by Emanuela Cerveri
• Bianzone among vineyards, churches, palaces and ancient quarters by Gianluigi Garbellini

It is also annually reminded on the Mary The Immaculate One 

L'articolo 26 MARZO 1675: LA MADONNA APPARVE A GIAN BATTISTA DE’ FLAGELLI proviene da Ecomuseo Bianzone.

It will start from Madonna del Piano at 20:30 and, through 7 stages, will come to the church of San Siro.

This route, usually in the opposite direction, is one of several faith routes that were the subject of various processions in the past. The faithful also came from neighbouring villages such as Teglio. Until 1870, the people of Tell arrived at the Sanctuary on foot to ‘sing mass’ on Sundays in Albis. This is recorded in the memoirs of priest Federico Cattaneo, bursar of the church from 1910 to 1921, quoted by Dante Sosio in the text ‘Bianzone - The Sanctuary of the Madonna del Piano, notes on history’.’, which you can find inside the church.

In addition to the traditional processions, there were exceptional ones in times of famine or when a storm was predicted.

Children and people who believed the story of the SWEATHING STONE. On the east side, an embossed stone is still visible, which could be touched before the restoration work in the 1970s/1980s. Above it was an inscription, now completely disappeared and replaced by a small plaque, which recounted the fact. According to legend, in fact, it was on that very stone that the Madonna would sit, leaving it perpetually wet with her sweat.

L'articolo GENTE DI PRIMAVERA – VIA CRUCIS ZONALE proviene da Ecomuseo Bianzone.

- School and family - 50 years together to educate

- Evolution of a community - Bianzone Nursery School from 1951 to 2008

Within the first volume is an article written by the then Don Bruno Rocca which explained the principles on which the school was founded and which inspire it even now:

• A benefactor who decides to leave a mark in memory of his father. “Not flowers but good works”....
• A Kindergarten that came into being because a population wanted it....to give them a suitable educational environment where through play they could learn to socialise and learn the rules of life.
• A kindergarten that works because the population is always active and participative......a community that wants to run its own kindergarten and is there to make it as beautiful and efficient as its own home.
• A very strong social sense, a pronounced sense of right but also of corresponding duty, a habit of personal commitment and dedication without delegating to the “boss” on duty, I would also dare say a local legislation that is particularly attentive to demanding free services in particular situations and moments: reading the old statutes of our countries from this point of view is particularly instructive.
• To whom do you entrust the kindergarten? To the Sisters and after them to the G. Mascioni Nursery School Foundation One entrusts one's children to those who are “experts in humanity” because they have made a gift of their lives. Education, but also School, is not first and foremost the fruit of increasingly sophisticated techniques and means, but first and foremost of testimonies. One educates by loving, by loving, by listening....

Sunday 22 March 2026 Once again the community will come together to celebrate the school and those who attend it on a daily basis.

At 10:00 it starts with the Holy Mass at the Church of St. Syrus.

At 12:00 lunch at the Omar and Pietro sports centre.

This is followed by children's entertainment and the traditional lottery.

L'articolo FESTA DELLA SCUOLA DELL’INFANZIA proviene da Ecomuseo Bianzone.

?Friday 6, 13 and 20 March 2026

Soup will be distributed starting at 6 p.m., but there is also the possibility of staying for dinner at the Bianzone oratory starting at 7 p.m.

?The cost of the take-away portion is 5 euro, and for dinner in the oratory 13 euro.

?For those unable to collect directly, home delivery will be made.

?For bookings, please contact:

- Bruna 3495937804

- Pink 3483020913

- Letizia 3280974870

Photos of the 2024-2025 initiative by Maria Rosa Lorenzi and Franca Gosatti

For more on barley cultivation in Bianzone read Vanda Cerveri's article: 1940s/’50s: Growing bears

L'articolo UN PIATTO CHE FA BENE: LA MINESTRA DE DUMEGA proviene da Ecomuseo Bianzone.

L'articolo SFILATA DI CARNEVALE OLIMPICA proviene da Ecomuseo Bianzone.

L'articolo QUARANTESIMO ANNIVERSARIO DELLA RIAPERTURA AL CULTO DELLA MADONNA DEL PIANO proviene da Ecomuseo Bianzone.

L'articolo CONCERTO D’ALTRO CANTO proviene da Ecomuseo Bianzone.

Doing and work understood as direct interaction between man and nature expressed a sense of existence in which each person felt himself to be the creator and participant in his own world, unlike today, when we feel less and less like participants, responsible and “actors” in the reality that surrounds us, but only frequenters and users.

As part of the ecomuseum project: “Mapping Bianzone”schoolchildren, with the project “Learn art and put it aside” discovered the old trades that were carried out in the village in the past, they learnt the gestures and got to know the tools and processes, with the help of experts and people who made themselves available. The year-long work led to the creation of a “Vocabulary of tools of the trade”and, at the beginning of the school year following the organisation ofthe ‘crafts corners” in the garden of Palazzetto Besta. 

Luciana Colombini, a primary school teacher, writes as follows:

It was an open-air workshop where the children, appropriately disguised, individually or in groups, performed the ancient crafts that once characterised Bianzone.
The cobbler, the locksmith, the farrier, the carpenter, the farmer are the most classic, but there was no shortage of those who sharpened knives and scythes, those who made brooms, those who cut wood, those who raked the hay, who filava, who carded. There were also the hawkers such as the chimney-sweeper, the umbrella-sweeper, the ragman, the tinsmith, funny and curious characters who lent themselves well to being played and who once carried out their task by wandering around the villages. 

È status It was nice to see how passionately the children imitated the ancient gestures, and it was even nicer to see some parents or grandparents sitting nearby trying to teach the “tricks of the trade”. 
In fact, the message with this project is once again to recover the past in order to learn about our own traditions that are unfortunately disappearing.

With this image, which someone in the audience described as “a painting”, ends this pleasant day that exalted taste and art in its various forms and made the older participants relive pleasant moments from their past.

The illustrated vocabulary of old trades is available at the Ecomuseo office and the City Hall.

L'articolo IMPARA L’ARTE E METTILA DA PARTE proviene da Ecomuseo Bianzone.

The book is divided into 14 parts, each section referring to a specific foodstuff, the cultivation and use of which is explained: buckwheat, maize, rye, wheat, barley, garden produce, potatoes, vines, pork, eggs, fruit. And then the recipes such as fuiadi, fritulini, pulenta al furan, cui patati, cui tartifuli, pancot, pan dei munt, minestra de ors, taroz, vin coc, ris e lac’, tripa, marsala all'uovo, farudi. Pleasant pages, reading them one understands how people lived, what they ate, simple but genuine food.

L'articolo La Cusinascia proviene da Ecomuseo Bianzone.