Iseo, Lombardy
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Iseo (
Brescian Eastern Lombard is a group of closely related variants of Lombard, a Gallo-Italic language 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 ...
: ) is a town and ''
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 ...
'' in the
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 ...
,
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, on the south shore of
Lake Iseo Lake Iseo or Iseo lake ( ; ; ), also known as Sebino (; ), is the fourth largest lake in Lombardy, Italy, fed by the Oglio River. It is in the north of the country in the Val Camonica area, near the cities of Brescia and Bergamo. The lake ...
. It is bounded by the communes of
Provaglio d'Iseo Provaglio d'Iseo (Brescian: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Brescia, in the Lombardy region in Italy. Provaglio d'Iseo is located 3 km south of the town Iseo, in the historical region of Franciacorta Franciacorta () is a his ...
, Sulzano, Polaveno and Paratico. It has the first monument ever built of
Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...
, erected in 1883.


Main sights

* Oldofredi Castle, built between the end of the 11th century and the beginning of the 12th century, on the site of the ''Torrazzo'', a rock at the edge of the city. It is one of the best preserved fortified complexes of early medieval military history. This fortress has square corner towers, screened by quadrangular crossbars on an inclined base. It was named after the Ghibelline Oldofredi family from Iseo. The large tower of the southern wing is the eldest part. It has a square base of 10 metres, a height of 12 metres. Its walls are 2 metres thick. The castle was set afire by the troops of
Frederick Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (; ), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 115 ...
during his Italian war in the mid-12th century. It was restored by Giacomo Oldofredi in 1161. During the 13th and 14th century, a rectangular castle was added to the fortified building. The castle was then surrounded by a deep moat, carved out of the solid rock. In the 14th century the castle belonged to the
Scaliger The House of Della Scala, whose members were known as Scaligeri () or Scaligers (; from the Latinized ''de Scalis''), was the ruling family of Verona and mainland Veneto (except for Venice) from 1262 to 1387, for a total of 125 years. History ...
family of
Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...
. The castle lost much of its importance when the political control of 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 ...
became stronger. It was then bought by the Celeri family. Its upkeep became so expensive that in 1586 the castle was transformed into a monastery for Franciscan friars. The frescoes on some walls of the building date from the 17th-18th centuries. The friars were forced to leave the building in 1797 during the Napoleonic occupation. It became a private property and changed into a block of flats (some are still inhabited) and a spinning mill. The building was bought by the municipality of Iseo and restored in the 1960s. It is now used as a public library, a war museum and can be used for civil wedding services. * Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Snow (Santuario Madonna della Neve) was built on the remains of the ancient church of St. Stephen, for popular devotion during the plague. On 15 April 1655 the foundation stone was laid for a new sanctuary after the miraculous healing of a man who crawled on all fours and suddenly could walk normally. He ascribed it his prayer to the fresco of the Holy Family in an
aedicule In ancient Roman religion, an ''aedicula'' (: ''aediculae'') is a small shrine, and in classical architecture refers to a niche covered by a pediment or entablature supported by a pair of columns and typically framing a statue,"aedicula, n." ''O ...
on the wall surrounding the ancient church. * Pieve di St. Andrea. It is believed that the church was founded in the 6th century by Bishop San Vigilio on the site of a Roman temple. It was subsequently reconstructed in the 12th century in Lombard style. Over the centuries the parish church was renovated several times. At the beginning of the 19th century Rodolfo Vantini renovated the interior in neo-classical style. The church is characterised by an unusual Romanesque bell tower incorporated into the centre of the façade. The church is so ornate and is regularly used for weddings. It is just a couple of minutes walk to the lake shore and also Garibaldi square, with the Garibaldi monument and "Vantini" Palace, the Town Hall. On the right-hand side of the portal there is a 14th-century
Gothic arch A pointed arch, ogival arch, or Gothic arch is an arch with a pointed crown meet at an angle at the top of the arch. Also known as a two-centred arch, its form is derived from the intersection of two circles. This architectural element was part ...
by Giacomo Oldofredi. Inside there are frescoes by Angelo Inganni and one ''St Michael Archangel'' by
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 ...
. In the presbytery there are frescoes by Ponziano Loverini and Giuseppe Teosa. *Garibaldi square, with the Garibaldi monument and "Vantini Palace", the Town Hall.


Transportation

The railway station of Iseo is served by regional trains to
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 ...
and Edolo. Iseo is connected to several other towns on Lake Iseo by ferry.


Twin towns

Iseo is twinned with: * Tamsweg, Austria


References


External links

*
Photos and information about Iseo and the surrounding region

Official website of Iseo tourism
{{authority control Cities and towns in Lombardy