This rural building was erected in the late 1200s to house the monks of the religious order of the ‘Umiliati’ (humbled). The order originated in Northern Italy in the 11th century, when certain noblemen from Milan and Como were taken prisoner by the Emperor of Germany Henry II during a long struggle against the Longobards and led to Germany as captives. Finding themselves in a foreign country, these noblemen decided to repent, rid themselves of their wealth and dress humbly, devoting their lives to the production of wool. Moved by their actions, the Emperor decided to set them free and allow them to return home, where they founded a new religious order known as the ‘Umiliati’. The noblewoman called Isotta Serbelloni is also thought to have lived at the monastery in Dervio: fickle but strong-willed, when she got fed up with her lovers she had no qualms about pushing them off the edge of a cliff. The order of the ‘Umiliati’ was abolished in 1571 by Pope Pius V, having been accused of betraying its ideals by accumulating material possessions.