The beautiful houses, portals and soapstone fountains are evidence of how rich and important this town was at the time of great trade with central Europe. Already documented in Roman times, both by archaeological finds and in the classic imperial itineraries thanks to a complex system of Alpine passes, it developed its importance in the early Middle Ages, giving itself municipal structures just after the year 1000. It was a county affiliated first to the bishopric of Como and then to that of Coira. Dominion of the Visconti (14th century) and of the Balbiani (15th century), it was subsequently the prerogative of Savoy first and then of the Grisons.
The current historic center is to be considered of sixteenth-century layout, as the medieval settlement was destroyed by a fire in 1486. The construction of the walls by Ludovico il Moro followed. In the first half of the seventeenth century. Chiavenna took part in the insurrection of the Valtellina people against the oppression of the Grisons. In more recent times in the historical chronology it was dominated by the French and the Austrians before being reunited with the Italian motherland in 1859.
The Municipality of Chiavenna is located at the foot of the Rhaetian Alps, where the valley of the Liro river (Val San Giacomo or Valle Spluga) and that of the Mera river (Val Bregaglia) meet. It was precisely this strategic location that has made the fortune of the town since ancient times. Located there, right at the crossroads of the roads to Milan and Como, for the Maloia and Spluga passes, the city of Chiavenna represents a noble landing place where suggestive views and routes rich in history intertwine.