Il Castello di Iseo o Castello Oldofredi prende il nome dall'omonima famiglia di Iseo, anche se non esistono documenti che ne attestino la proprietà.

Posizionato su un'emergenza rocciosa a meridione del centro storico, risulta esistente già nel IX-X secolo come proprietà del monastero bresciano di Santa Giulia.

La struttura è a pianta quadrata di circa 10 metri per lato, di cui la parte più antica risulta essere il mastio posizionata nell'ala meridionale.

Nel 1161 subì una devastazione ordinata da Federico Barbarossa, successivamente venne ricostruito e munito di quattro torri ai lati e un fossato scavato nella roccia.

Le porte d'accesso, a sesto acuto, erano rivolte a nord e a sud e nelle chiavi di volta era riportato lo stemma veronese dei Della Scala.

A partire dall'inizio Quattrocento, con l'estensione del dominio della Repubblica di Venezia sul Bresciano, la fortificazione perse la sua importanza militare. La proprietà passò alla famiglia Celeri da Lovere, che la mantenne fino al 1585, quando venne donato ai frati cappuccini.

I monaci operarono diverse modifiche nella struttura, tra cui la mozzatura delle torri e la costruzione della chiesa di san Marco, consacrata nel 1629.

Con le soppressioni di Napoleone nel 1797 i frati abbandonarono il convento, che subì una privatizzazione. Il comune di Iseo riuscì ad acquistarne il possesso negli anni '60 del Novecento e restaurarlo.

Oggi ospita la biblioteca comunale Fulgenzio Rinaldi, la sede di alcune associazioni culturali e la sala civica nella precedente chiesa di San Marco.

Castello Oldofredi

Account

by category

Login

Name

by region

Title

Name in English

The present castle, overlooking the Oglio valley and next to the fortified town of Calepio, is standing on the ruins of a former Early Middle Age fortalice. The current building's structure was built by Count Trussardo Calepio in 1430, due to the need of defence during the wars between Venice Republic and the Duchy of Milan. Calepio Counts were both politically and militarily supporting the Serenissima's expansion throughout Bergamo's territory. Further additions (especially during XVII and XVIII centuries) converted the castle from a military garrison into an elegant residence. From 1849 the castle belongs to a Charitable Institution.

https://visitlakeiseo.info

The Conti Calepio Castle

A lion rampant and an eagle with big talons grasping its prey represent the symbol of the ancient and noble Suardi family, depicted on the entry portal of Bianzano Castle.

The historical complex, dating back to the XIII Century, features a perfectly square plan whose diagonal lines indicate the cardinal points.

Located on a tableland overlooking the western side of the Cavallina Valley, the building allowed to control the north-western and north-eastern faces, from where the enemies could arrive: the road coming from the Seriana Valley across the Valle Rossa (the “Red Valley”) and the one connecting Bergamo with Lake Iseo and the Camonica Valley. It also provided a good view over Lake Endine and the Mount Torrezzo.

The numerical proportions and the symbols disseminated all over the castle lead one to think that, originally, it was a seat of the Templars, the knights belonging to the medieval religious order: would you like to learn more about it?


Several well-known proofs, along with some new ones, confirm the presence of the Templars.

The first one is in the emblem of Bianzano Municipality, featuring two symbols: a silver shell and the pilgrim’s staff, validating the fact that the village used to be a stopover for wayfarers and believers.

The Templars provided assistance to pilgrims, so they may have chosen this place as a sort of headquarter to control the upper valley. But there’s more: historians and enthusiasts have been examining the castle for a long time, discovering many interesting facts. 

First of all, 1,618: this is the golden ratio, also called “Phidias’ proportion”, obtained dividing the height by the base of the two portals situated in the Castle’s courtyard. This numerical rule was already theorized by the Greeks and carried on by Leonardo da Vinci, who probably applied it to the Last Supper.

Moreover, in Castel del Monte, Apulia, there seem to be the same archaeo-astronomical elements also found in Bianzano: the orientation towards the cardinal points, with the square plant’s four corners, perfectly sets the sun rays during solstices and equinoxes.

More in detail, during the equinoxes the light strikes a determined corner inside the building, while during solstices the points of incidence detect both length and height of the tower, the castle and the courtyard. On the other hand, the moon is able to adjust the castle orientation to the cardinal points with 10 degrees of difference.

Among the symbols, it is also interesting to know that the “flowers of life” we find in many Templar places of worship, along with the black and white lozenges, can hide the heaven-earth and light-darkness duality that’s typical of the Templar culture.

It looks like the mystery of Bianzano Castle is enclosed in the medal decorating the fortified tower’s vault, featuring some birds. They are actually crossbills: according to the legend, they tried to take the thorns off Jesus’s crown. The reference to the Templar cross is clear.

Out of curiosity
Every year, during the first weekend of August, the Castle hosts the historical re-enactment of a very important event: in 1367 Giovanni, a member of the Suardi family, married Bernarda Visconti, Bernabò’s daughter, ruler of the Duchy of Milan, receiving the castle itself as a wedding gift. 

After the restoration work carried out between the 60s and the 70s, the building is still in good conditions. It serves as the summer residence of its owners, while a couple of lodgers-keepers live here the whole year long, in the raised ground floor at the tower’s entrance.
https://www.visitbergamo.net

Bianzano Castle 

Carobbio degli Angeli (Bergamasque: Caròbe di Àngei) is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about 60 kilometres (37 mi) northeast of Milan and about 13 kilometres (8 mi) southeast of Bergamo.

Carobbio degli Angeli borders the following municipalities: Bolgare, Chiuduno, Gandosso, Gorlago, Grumello del Monte, Trescore Balneario.
History
The village has Roman origins. In the 14th century AD it received a castle. Later it was a possession of the Republic of Venice.

The current comune was created in 1928 through the merger of Carobbio and Santo Stefano degli Angeli.




Carobbio degli Angeli

The ancient part of the city of Brescia, the Brixia Romana as it has been called since the 1st century BC for the rocky and uneven ground it was built on, is limited on the north-east by the Cidnéo Hill(245 m). Brich was the Celtic term indicated the rocky peak, the elevated places.  And the hill, which gives an enchanting view over the entire city, represented the most important element for urban history from the first primitive settlements of the Bronze Age, until the start of the 1900’s.  

The Castle, called “Falcon of Italy” because of its high position over the city, is one of the vastest fortified complexes of the country with its 75000 square meters closed within the walled areas.  The ancient Venetian-VIscontea fortress dominates over the city.

 


Its building structures, well-preserved, are proof of the evolution of military techniques that, in time, made this defense system unassailable and a perfect instrument of control over the city by various “dominators” in Brescia.

By walking up to the top of the hill from the entrance, the visitor goes through a journey back in time:  from the military architecture of the 1500’s (beginning of the period of Venetian domination), to those of the 1800’s (period of Austrian occupation) until the more internal Medieval wall, the one built by the Visconti family.  

The hill-Castle block has always been, there, an integral part of the city.  And yet, going to “the Castle” means not only visiting the imposing fortification, but also walking through the vast recreational areas that are found within the walls or along the shady roads that real the top of the Cidneo hill.  

The natural features of the site, starting from the first settlements used for defensive purposes, have, in time, changed their function.  The slopes of the Cidneo hill, first bare and covered with rocks to allow for enemy sighting, are totally different today. These slopes starting from the end of XIX century have been completely rearranged and tree-lined roads have been created and monuments and stalks placed; since then, the Castle has had a public role with both a recreational and cultural-scientific function.

The Visconti tower hosts the “Luigi Marzoli” Civic Weapons Museum, one of the most important in Europe because of its significant collection of weapons and armatures of the 1400 and 1500’s and its guns from the 1600 and 1700’s.  The material, of great historical and artistic interest, is divided up by historical period and type.  The approximately 600 pieces on exhibit offer and expressive documentation of both the weapon production based in the Milan area and the one in Brescia, which boasts a centuries-old tradition.

The Risorgimento Museum is in the Grande Miglio (the Castle), with numerous and important documents, paintings, vintage prints and historical memorabilia.  The two sections of the current setup are dedicated to the most important moments and figures of that period and range from the revolutionary years of the XVIII century to the last decades of the XIX century.  

http://www.eastlombardy.it

Castello in Brescia

The castle has primeval origins, even high medieval, but his existence is ascertained only since 1160.
The founder of the family that had the ownership of it was Alberto degli Albertoni of the Capitani di Vertova, representative in Lodi of the Lombarda League, in 1183 between the signatories of the peace of Constance and in 1190 consul of Bergamo.
The counts of Vertova extinguished in male line in the first half of the 1800, but their noble stock continued in female line across the last adherent,the countess Elizabeth, in the Camozzi de Gherardi Vertova.

Now the history and the life of the castle continues with the countess Maria Edvige in the Camozzi Palma de Gherardi Vertova.
In 1380 this site was remembered by Celestino in occasion of the expansionist manoeuvres of the Duke of Milan, Bernabò Visconti.

Once achieved the peace among Veneta Republic and the Visconti, in 1433, for decree of the Republic of Venice, "the inhabitants of Bagnatica and Costa di Mezzate were exempted of the tax paying because of their loyalty".

At the beginning of the hostilities between the two powers the castle of Costa di Mezzate was imposed as apprehensible rampart of defense and it allowed the soldieries of the Republic of Venice to be saved from the Milaneses. After that Nicolò Piccino for revenge instigated his fury against the castles of Costa di Mezzate and of Castelli Calepio, conquers them, in part demolishes them and blazes them.

https://ettoremajorana.edu.it

Castello di Costa di Mezzate

This building is a wonderful Renaissance manor house, nestled in the soft and green plain of Bergamo. It was built between the XVI and the XVII century on the ruins of a thirteenth-century group of houses, then it was restored by the Gonzaga family from Vescovato, the current owners for more than sixty years.
You can just cross the threshold to feel like a princess. The romantic entrance is the ideal royal pathway for the bride and the groom, with the beautiful St. Mark’s Church in front of the castle, which majestically dominates the valley with its giant gate on whose top there is a marble eagle. Walking through the path, you arrive at the lovely square court, which is totally covered with frescos and dominated by an old black marble well, streaked in white: the perfect support for the wedding-cake cutting. The double loggia, instead, covered with frescos as well, is the perfect location to host the aperitif and starter buffet. The five indoor halls, adorned with some vaults painted by Giacomo Barbello from Lodi and Gian Battista Azzola, are little works of art, and represent the ideal setting for a refined and exclusive banquet.
On the top of the tower that dominates the surrounding countryside, you can plunge yourself into an evocative scenario that surrounds the valley of Bergamo, and you can admire also the other tower of the Castle, at whose basis there is a secret room. It is a special place to take some photos of the wedding, as well as the adjacent park enlivened by a lovely land full of haystacks and characterised by a romantic wooden bridge that passes above a stream where willows are languidly reflected.
At the sunset, the evocative light of the torches will give magic and beauty to the atmosphere of the portico, the courtyard, the columns and the battlements of this enchanted Castle, where you can even celebrate your civil rite near the well in the middle of the courtyard, or in the solemn Sala dei Girasoli (Sunflower Hall), covered with frescos.
Finally, Longhi Banqueting’s staff represents an essential support for a professional and careful organisation of an impeccable wedding reception, paying attention in fulfilling any of the bride and the groom’s dreams. The menu is exclusively realised with seasonal and very-high-quality ingredients, in order to exalt the dishes created by the chefs, blending the typical cuisine of Bergamo with an original touch.

https://www.residenzedepoca.it

The Cavernago Castle’s 

DESCRIPTION
Malpaga Castle was built by a Ghibelline before the advent of gun power. Thanks to the deep moat surrounding it, the Castle was unassailable over a long time: it came back to life in 1456, when the famous Captain General of the Venice Republic Bartolomeo Colleoni decided to buy Malpaga’s Borough for 100 gold ducats, aiming to turn it into his private house and the centre of his domain.

The Castle thus became the Commander’s headquarter and witnessed numerous outstanding historic events, hosting renowned figures paying homage to the Captain, such as Borso d’Este, Francesco Sforza’s sons, Charles II Duke of Burgundy and Christian I king of Denmark.


Malpaga Castle is one of the most outstanding XIV Century Lombard buildings. It overlooks 330 hectares of farmlands in the Park of River Serio, creating an amazing natural and architectural complex leading the territorial requalification project called PER MALPAGA.


Every weekend from March to November, Malpaga Castle opens its gates and displays all its treasures. During these exclusive tours you can admire the beautiful frescos decorating the ancient Halls, carried out by renowned artist between the XV and the XVII Century: you can experience the charm of the past as you walk through the door of the castle, decorated with furniture reproducing the style of that period.

Moreover, it is also possible to visit the hamlet of Malpaga upon request, with a lovely tour by carriage all around the Castle, to discover the its most secret places. Lots of events, initiatives and historic re-enactments, such as the traditional Palio of Malpaga, enliven the Hamlet and take the Castle back to life throughout the year.

https://www.visitbergamo.net