This area was first inhabited already in the Roman period and then in the later Middle ages, when the successor of the Lombardic rulers Johannes Astolfa set his castle post. After the destruction of the castle the village was named after the lord of the castle Ivan (Johannes). Among beautiful sights belong the church of St Cross that is situated on the rising outside the village centre, the remains of the prehistoric ancient fort (with single trench comprises 370 metres), caverns, trenches and the remains of a military railway from the First World War that can still be seen on the surrounding commons.