Breno ( Camunian: ; obsolete ) is an Italian

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

of 4,986 inhabitants in

Val Camonica Val Camonica or Valcamonica (), also Valle Camonica and anglicized as Camonica Valley, is one of the largest valleys of the central Alps, in eastern Lombardy, Italy. It extends about from the Tonale Pass to Corna Trentapassi, in the c ...

province of Brescia The province of Brescia (; Brescian: ) is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Lombardy region of Italy. It has a population of some 1,265,964 (as of January 2019) and its capital is the city of Brescia.With an area of 4,785 km2, it is the ...

, in

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

Geography

It is bounded by other communes of

Niardo Niardo ( Camunian: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy. Neighbouring comuni are Braone, Breno, Losine and Prestine. It was the birthplace of Saint Obitius (Obizio), who is one of the town's patron saints. Ge ...

, Bagolino, Bienno, Braone, Ceto, Cividate Camuno, Condino (TN), Daone (TN), Losine, Malegno, Niardo, Prestine. The town of Breno stands in a north-south gorge, between the castle hill and the Corno Cerreto, on the left bank of the river

Oglio The Oglio (; or ; , ) is a left-side tributary of the river Po in Lombardy, Italy. It is long. In the hierarchy of the Po's tributaries, with its of length, it occupies the 2nd place per length (after the river Adda), while it is the 4th pe ...

. According to professor Fedele the gorge was once the bed of the Oglio.

History

On top of the castle hill a house dating back to the Neolithic was discovered. In the locality Spinera, at the river Oglio, there is the Sanctuary of Minerva of the first century CE, which was ruined in the fifth century. In the Middle Ages the Castle of Breno had two towers, one belonging to the Guelph family Ronchi, the other to the Ghibelline family Alberzoni. In the 1397 peace of Breno between

Guelphs and Ghibellines The Guelphs and Ghibellines ( , ; ) were Political faction, factions supporting the Pope (Guelphs) and the Holy Roman Emperor (Ghibellines) in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy during the Middle Ages. During the 12th ...

, the representatives of the community of Breno sided both with the Ghibellines and the Guelphs. During the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

rule Breno was the seat of the Community of Val Camonica. Breno today is the seat of the

Comunità montana di Valle Camonica ''Comunità'' (Italian: ''Community'') was a cultural magazine published in Rome, Italy. The magazine was in circulation between 1946 and 1960. History and profile ''Comunità'' was established by Adriano Olivetti in 1946. The first issue of the ...

. The emblem of the province of Brescia is the group of five blazons: that of

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

in the center, the town of Chiari, Breno,

Verolanuova Verolanuova (Brescian: ) is a ''comune'' in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy, northern Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian P ...

and

Salò Salò (; ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Brescia in the region of Lombardy (northern Italy) on the banks of Lake Garda, on which it has the longest promenade. The city was the Governance#Seat of government, seat of government of th ...

Monuments and places of interest

Religious architecture

*Church of the Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the 17th century structure in the centre of the town, with frescoes by Antonio Guadagnini. The altars are in marble of Ono San Pietro. * Church of Sant'Antonio Abate, preserves notable works of art, particularly the cycle of frescoes created by

Romanino Girolamo Romani, known as Romanino ( – ), was an Italian High Renaissance painter active in the Veneto and Lombardy, near Brescia. His long career brought forth several different styles. Biography Romani was born in Brescia. His early trai ...

. *Church of St Maria at the Bridge (or Minerva), from the 14th century. Leaning against the structure is a small temple of Minerva. *Church of San Carlo, from the 17th century, with significant number of ex-votos. *Church of San Maurizio, an ancient parish. *Chapel of St. Apollonia, along the road leading to San Valentino. *Church of San Valentino, 15th century construction, interior perhaps

Giovanni Pietro da Cemmo Giovanni Pietro da Cemmo (15th century - 16th century) was an Italians, Italian painter. Details on the artist's life are very scarce: perhaps born in Cemmo, he was active from 1474 to 1504 in a large area including Brescia and Cremona. Gi ...

Military architectures

The Castle of Breno rises over a hill inhabited already in prehistoric times. It was the main bastion for the control of Valle Camonica until the seventeenth century.

Demographics

Demographic trends

Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.7) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8) ImageSize = width:455 height:373 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:6000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:500 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:100 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1861 text:1861 bar:1871 text:1871 bar:1881 text:1881 bar:1901 text:1901 bar:1911 text:1911 bar:1921 text:1921 bar:1931 text:1931 bar:1936 text:1936 bar:1951 text:1951 bar:1961 text:1961 bar:1971 text:1971 bar:1981 text:1981 bar:1991 text:1991 bar:2001 text:2001 bar:2011 text:2011 PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:left bar:1861 from:0 till: 2838 bar:1871 from:0 till: 3252 bar:1881 from:0 till: 3410 bar:1901 from:0 till: 3195 bar:1911 from:0 till: 3862 bar:1921 from:0 till: 3656 bar:1931 from:0 till: 3651 bar:1936 from:0 till: 3624 bar:1951 from:0 till: 4603 bar:1961 from:0 till: 5009 bar:1971 from:0 till: 5253 bar:1981 from:0 till: 5792 bar:1991 from:0 till: 5274 bar:2001 from:0 till: 4962 bar:2011 from:0 till: 4986 PlotData= bar:1861 at: 2838 fontsize:S text: 2,838 shift:(-8,5) bar:1871 at: 3252 fontsize:S text: 3,252 shift:(-10,5) bar:1881 at: 3410 fontsize:S text: 3,410 shift:(-10,5) bar:1901 at: 3195 fontsize:S text: 3,195 shift:(-10,5) bar:1911 at: 3862 fontsize:S text: 3,862 shift:(-10,5) bar:1921 at: 3656 fontsize:S text: 3,656 shift:(-10,5) bar:1931 at: 3651 fontsize:S text: 3,651 shift:(-10,5) bar:1936 at: 3624 fontsize:S text: 3,624 shift:(-10,5) bar:1951 at: 4603 fontsize:S text: 4,603 shift:(-10,5) bar:1961 at: 5009 fontsize:S text: 5,009 shift:(-10,5) bar:1971 at: 5253 fontsize:S text: 5,253 shift:(-10,5) bar:1981 at: 5792 fontsize:S text: 5,792 shift:(-10,5) bar:1991 at: 5274 fontsize:S text: 5,274 shift:(-10,5) bar:2001 at: 4962 fontsize:S text: 4,962 shift:(-10,5) bar:2011 at: 4986 fontsize:S text: 4,986 shift:(-10,5) TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:data source ISTAT

Culture

Traditions and folklore

The scütüm are in

camunian dialect Eastern Lombard is a group of closely related variants of Lombard language, Lombard, a Gallo-Italic languages, Gallo-Italic language spoken in Lombardy, mainly in the provinces of Bergamo, Brescia and Mantua, in the area around Cremona and in p ...

nicknames, sometimes personal, elsewhere showing the characteristic features of a community. The one which characterize the people of Breno is ''Maia càrte'' or ''Pèla pàsser''

Museums

* Sanctuary of Minerva

CaMus

The ''Museo Archeologico della Valle Camonica'' is located in Breno, also known as the Museo Camuna, and contains artifacts and artworks documenting the history of the region. Among the painting collection, are works by: *Emilian 14th century master - ''I sette dormienti nella spelonca'' *Venetian 16th century - ''Madonna with Bambino, Sts. Sebastian & Rocco'' *

Callisto Piazza file:(Venice) Decollazione del Battista - Callisto Piazza da Lodi - Gallerie Accademia.jpg, 280px, ''Beheading of the Baptist'', Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice Callisto Piazza (1500–1561) was an Italian painter. Biography Callisto, a member ...

da Lodi - ''Deposition'' *

Girolamo Romani Girolamo Romani, known as Romanino ( – ), was an Italian High Renaissance painter active in the Veneto and Lombardy, near Brescia. His long career brought forth several different styles. Biography Romani was born in Brescia. His early trai ...

detto Il Romanino - ''Crucifixion'' *Anonymous 16/17th century - ''Triumph of death'' *School of Bellini - ''Holy family & St. John'' *Northern master - ''Capture of Christ'' *

Camillo Procaccini 300px, ''Nativity'' by Camillo Procaccini Camillo Procaccini (3 March 1561 at Parma – 21 August 1629) was an Italian painter. He has been posthumously referred to as the ''Vasari of Lombardy'', for his prolific Mannerist fresco decoration. Bo ...

attributed (Bologna 1551-Milan 1629) - ''Martyrdom of St. Bartholemew'' *School of Procaccini - ''Allegory of Flora crowned by genius'' *Venetian 17th century - ''Adoration by Magi'' *School of Ribera - ''St. Bartholomew'' *School of

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (also Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi da Caravaggio; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), known mononymously as Caravaggio, was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the fina ...

- ''Incredulity of Thomas'' *

Giacomo Ceruti Giacomo Antonio Melchiorre Ceruti (13 October 1698 – 28 August 1767) was an Italian late Baroque painter, active in Northern Italy in Milan, Brescia, and Venice. He acquired the nickname Pitocchetto (the little beggar) for his many paintin ...

(Milan 1698-1767) - portrait of Cattaneo family member *

Felice Riccio Felice Riccio (1542–1605) was an Italian painter of the late-Renaissance period, born and mainly active in Verona. He is also known as ''il Brusasorci'' or ''Brusasorzi'' or ''Felice Brusasorci''. He was the son of the painter Domenico Riccio. ...

detto Il Brusasorci (Verona 1540-1605) * Francesco Giugno * Francesco Monti (il Brescianino) *Giulio Carponi *

Gaspare Gaspare (also ''Gaspero'', ''Gasperino'' and ''Gasparro'') is an Italian male given name, the literal translation of the English name Casper and Jasper (French Gaspard, Scandinavian Kasper and Jesper). The name is rare in contemporary times, bu ...

Antonio Diziani Antonio Diziani (9 February 1737 – 23 June 1797) was an Italian painter of the 18th century, active mainly in painting vedute or landscapes and vistas of Venice. His father, Gaspare Diziani, was a prominent rococo artist who painted canvases ...

*Bice Del Balzo nel castello di Rosate *

Francesco Hayez Francesco Hayez (; 10 February 1791 – 12 February 1882) was an Italian painter. He is considered one of the leading artists of Romanticism in mid-19th-century Milan, and is renowned for his grand historical paintings, political allegories, and ...

Faustino Bocchi Faustino Bocchi (1659–1742) was an Italian painter, active in Brescia, who specialized in bizarre paintings of dwarf (mythology), dwarfs. Biography He was son of Giacomo and Giulia Faioni, and was born in Brescia on June 17, 1659. It is not ...

(Brescia 1659-1741) - ''Bambocciata'' * Enrico Albricci (

Vilminore di Scalve Vilminore di Scalve ( Bergamasque: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about northeast of Bergamo. As of 31 December 2010, it had a population of 1, ...

, BG 1714-Bergamo 1775) - ''Serenade by Bambocci'' * Ponziano Loverini (

Gandino Gandino (Bergamasque: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about northeast of Bergamo. Gandino borders the following municipalities: Casnigo, Caz ...

, BG 1845-1929) *

Antonio Guadagnini Antonio Guadagnini (Bassano del Grappa, 25 August 1966) is an Italian politician. Guadagnini joined Christian Democracy (DC) in the late 1980s and, after that party's dissolution in 1994, he joined a score of centre-right Christian-democratic part ...

(

Esine Esine (Camunian dialect, Camunian: ) is a ''comune'' in the province of Brescia, in the Italian region Lombardy, in the Val Camonica, Camonica valley, located north of Brescia. It is bounded by other communes of Berzo Inferiore, Bovegno, Civid ...

, BS 1817- Arzago d'Adda, BG 1900)

References

Bibliography

External links

Historical photos - Intercam

Historical photos - Lombardia Beni Culturali
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Lombardy