Serle (

Brescian Eastern Lombard is a group of closely related variants of Lombard, a Gallo-Italic dialect spoken in Lombardy, mainly in the provinces of Bergamo, Brescia and Mantua, in the area around Cremona and in parts of Trentino. Its main variants are Be ...

: ) is a ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in the

province of Brescia The Province of Brescia ( it, provincia di Brescia; Brescian: ) is a Province in the Lombardy administrative region of northern Italy. It has a population of some 1,265,964 (as of January 2019) and its capital is the city of Brescia. With an ar ...

, in

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. It is bordered by the neighboring communes of

Nuvolento Nuvolento (Brescian: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy. Neighbouring comuni are Paitone, Nuvolera, Prevalle, Serle and Bedizzole. It is within the agricultural area of the province of Brescia, west of the river Chie ...

Caino Caino (Brescian: ) is a ''comune'' in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy located in the Valle del Garza. It is bounded by other communes of Nave and Lumezzane. Geography Caino is distant almost 12 km (7,46 mi) from Brescia. It bo ...

and

Botticino Botticino (Brescian: ) is a town and ''comune'' (commune or municipality) in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy, Italy. The ''comune'' was created in 1928 by the union of the former ''comuni'' of Botticino Mattina and Botticino Sera which today, ...

History

Framed by the mountains of

Valle Sabbia The Valle Sabbia is the second-largest of the Tre Valli Bresciane (''Three Brescian valleys''), situated in the eastern part of the province of Brescia. Geography Physically it constitutes a single valley with Val di Chiese. It is bounded by Lake ...

, the municipality of Serle is located in a basin of the valley rising up from the river

Chiese The Chiese, also known in the Province of Brescia as the Clisi, is a Italian river that is the principal immisary and sole emissary of the sub-alpine lake Lago d’Idro, and is a left tributary of the Oglio. The river rises from the Adamello in T ...

to Cariadeghe plateau. The etymology of the name could originate from this morphological feature, since ''serule'' means dolina. The area has been inhabited since the

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...

period. Being a Roman settlement, as shown by an old furnace, Serle was very important in the early 11th century, when the bishop of Brescia Olderico founded the monastery of San Peter in Monte Orsino on mount San Bartolomeo. The monastery had a very strong political and religious power and significantly influenced the history of a vast territory until 1446. The town became an independent municipality in 1138 and part of the "quadra di Gavardo" during the Venetian domination. The economy was based on agriculture and cattle rearing in the past; it is now supported by

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

extraction, handcrafts, trading of charcoal, and building activities. Serle played a role in the history of the Italian

Risorgimento The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...

, due to the heroic acts of the Catholic priest Don Pietro Boifava (1794–1879), a protagonist of the "10 Giornate di Brescia" riot with

Tito Speri Tito Speri (2 August 1825 - 3 March 1853) was an Italian patriot and hero of the Risorgimento. Life Speri was born in Brescia. He began his military career as a volunteer in the First Italian Independence War in 1848, has been engaged in the Bat ...

Places

San Bartolomeo's church

The church was built during the 8th century on the ruins of the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monastery. From the old coenoby, it still keeps Romanesque remains and a

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

by Paolo da Caylina il Giovane in the

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

. Also, the church, still existing in 1138 and became a sanctuary of the Beata Vergine Annunciata in 1747, belonged to the monastery. The imposing parish church dedicated to

San Pietro in Vincoli San Pietro in Vincoli (; Saint Peter in Chains) is a Roman Catholic titular church and minor basilica in Rome, Italy, best known for being the home of Michelangelo's statue of Moses, part of the tomb of Pope Julius II. The '' Titulus S. Petri ...

and built during the early 18th century is a rare example of 18th-century style in Lombardy and a National Monument. All churches are decorated with many marble altars made by the "rezzatese" school in

Rezzato Rezzato (Brescian: ) is a ''comune'' in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy. It is bounded by the comunes of Brescia, Botticino, Castenedolo, Mazzano and Nuvolera. Thanks to its nearness to the small town of Botticino, Rezzato is commonly cons ...

during the 17th-18th centuries.

Nature

The natural monument upland of Cariadeghe is very important for its environmental and

speleological Speleology is the scientific study of caves and other karst features, as well as their make-up, structure, physical properties, history, life forms, and the processes by which they form (speleogenesis) and change over time (speleomorphology). ...

features. It is characterized by

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

ic features including dolinas,

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

s, and swallow holes conveying water under the ground. A large number of majestic century-old trees grow in the protected area.

Politics

Since 2004 the mayor of Serle has been Gianluigi Zanola. The city council has 12 seats. After the June 2009 elections, the new city council has eight seats filled by members of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

and four filled by

The People of Freedom The People of Freedom ( it, Il Popolo della Libertà, PdL) was a centre-right political party in Italy. The PdL, launched by Silvio Berlusconi on 18 November 2007, was initially a federation of political parties, notably including Forza Italia a ...

References

Cities and towns in Lombardy {{Brescia-geo-stub