Calolziocorte

Located in a morphologically extended valley fifteen kilometers from the shores of Lake Olginate to Ambivere and officially named Val San Martino starting from the first half of the fifteenth century, Calolziocorte has its roots in a very distant past.

Calolziocorte

Located in a morphologically extended valley fifteen kilometers from the shores of Lake Olginate to Ambivere and officially named Val San Martino starting from the first half of the fifteenth century, Calolziocorte has its roots in a very distant past.

Indications of a probable human presence in prehistoric times are the remains of some pile-dwelling structures found at the Lavello, evidence, perhaps, of a first settlement located along the banks of the river Adda. Even in the protohistoric era, in all likelihood, the territory of Calolzio was the subject of some population: leaving aside the various hypotheses about the pre-Roman origin of the locality, the presence of a settlement referable to the Iron Age and to the Celtic culture of Golasecca is significant ( IX-V century BC) identified at the nearby Rocca of Somasca.

The vestiges of the Roman presence dating back to the imperial era are evident. Crossed by the piedmont road that connected Brescia, Bergamo, Como and which crossed the river Adda thanks to the bridge of Olginate, referable to the III century AD, the settlement of Calolzio gained importance finding in this road the reason for its development.
In addition to the numerous sarcophagi with a sloping lid and a small necropolis found in La Gerra, particular attention should be paid to finding the sacred marble inscription with a dedication to Diana, goddess of hunting, woods and the moon, found near the parish church of Lorentino datable between the I and the II century.

The first written record of a place of Calolzio, or Court, dates back to 774, when Rado de Curte appears as a witness in a Bergamo parchment. The character would be the oldest inhabitant of Calolziocorte whose documented proof exists. It is very probable that already in the early Middle Ages there existed in Calolzio, and always in the locality of La Gerra, a primitive church dedicated to San Martino Bishop of Tours so as to then extend the same dedication to the entire valley on it gravitating.

In 1274 Napoleone della Torre conquered the San Martino Valley and its chief town: in those years, on Calolzio, strong was the power exercised by the noble feudal family of the Benaglio, among other holders of numerous castles and ally of the Torriani in an anti-Visconti key. Among the numerous military and political events that followed this tragic period of infighting, we recall the battle of Campo Cerese (1398) between the Guelphs of Calolzio and the Ghibellines of Olginate.

With the treaty stipulated in April 1454, Val San Martino passed definitively under the dominion of the Republic of Venice, which for some decades had begun to appear in the Calolian territory in order to occupy Lecco. With the gentle rule of the Serenissima, Calolzio inaugurated a period of greater tranquility and prosperity and drew many benefits from the various privileges that the Venetian Government granted it as a borderland with the Duchy of Milan.

The strategic position and the presence of important railway crossroads favored the development in Calolziocorte of numerous industrial settlements, especially in the 20s of the last century. To remember the establishment “Sali di Bario”, from all the Calolziesi known as “Fabricù”. In the craft sector the artisan production of agricultural tools and metal processing are very widespread and renowned.

Discover the places to see at Calolziocorte:

Cyclopedon track

On the banks of the river there are very popular cycling routes. From the Lavello locality in the municipality of Calolziocorte, continuing north along the left bank of the Adda river, the cycle / pedestrian path that reaches the area of the dam in the municipality of Olginate starts, then an urban route crosses the fraction Pascolo di Calolziocorte and crossing the lakefront of Vercurago reaches Lecco at the Azzone Visconti bridge.

On the opposite bank of the river, in the municipality of Olginate, there is a cycle and pedestrian path that, going south, reaches the municipality of Paderno d’Adda and the works of Leonardo, while to the north there is a stretch of cycle path that allows a tour of the lake through the municipalities of Garlate and Pescate, up to the same Azzone Visconti bridge.

Archipresbiteral church of San Martino Vescovo in Calolzio

Built in front of the old Parish church according to the project of the Lecco architect Giuseppe Bovara, it is accessed through a monumental pronaos with four columns with Corinthian capitals. Once past the entrance compass, the white Carrara marble altar appears with the apse fresco depicting the appearance of Christ at San Martino by Luigi Morgari of Turin in 1907 and dominated by the dome painted by Brighenti in 1830.

On the sides we can see the four altars of St. Joseph (1898), of the Saints Rocco and Sebastiano (1837), of the Addolorata (1851) and of the Beata Vergine del Carmine (1869). Noteworthy is the eighteenth-century organ Serassi.

Sanctuary of the Madonna of the Good Council of Casale

In the place already mentioned by a Bergamo parchment of the year 985, there was a tabernacle dedicated to the Virgin which in 1730 showed miraculous signs so as to induce the population to build a sanctuary. Authorized by decree of the Veneto Senate, the erection was started in 1734 on a project by the architect Ferdinando Saijz. It is a measured baroque building with a central octagonal plan covered by a polygonal presbytery dome that constitutes an unfinished work: it was in fact only partially built since the present church should have been the choir and presbytery designed to occupy the whole square up to the wash-house. The raising of the Sanctuary of San Gerolamo in Somasca addressed the spontaneous oblations of the population elsewhere and the project was inevitably downsized.

Monastery of Santa Maria del Lavello

Ancient settlement, already a fortification on the Adda belonging to the Counts of Almenno in the XIth century and annexed to a church of San Simpliciano in the XIIth century, the religious settlement of the Lavello emerges from the end of the thirteenth century when the sources indicate the presence of a church dedicated to Santa Maria and destined, in 1443, to be part of the autonomous parish of Calolzio under the Venetian dominion.

At the end of the fifteenth century, the church, which was reduced to a state of neglect, was restored and enlarged by the hermit Jacopino who, during the works, found a source of miraculous water advocating miracles, healings and devotion that survived to this day. Once the religious community of the Servite Fathers settled, the works were completed around 1493 and gave the convent the shape we can still admire today. Of note is the characteristic 16th century major cloister, the smaller 17th century cloister, the wooden pulpit with the hand holding the Crucifix, a enthroned Madonna in the style of the late fifteenth century and various frescoes of exquisite workmanship. During the restoration phase, the complex is destined to become a cultural center of European scope.

Church of San Lorenzo Vecchio a Rossino

It rises in the calolziese hamlet of Rossino, in front of the new parish church. The architectural structure shows typical forms of the first half of the twelfth century, although the first attestations found in medieval maps date back to the early fourteenth century. A building with a single rectangular nave with a trapezoidal apse, a visible wooden roof and a bell tower with tufa single lancet window, the old church of S. Lorenzo has undergone numerous interventions during the various eras, among which the two side altars stand out. The recently restored interior fresco decorations are valuable, dating back to the 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th centuries: San Lorenzo, San Sebastiano and the Cristo Pantocratore near the presbytery; San Lorenzo alla Gricola and a Crucifixion near the south wall.

Castle of Rossino

Called Castelrossino (but otherwise called Castello dell’Innominato) and located to the right of the stream Buliga on a dominant hill terraced with vineyards, together with the church of San Lorenzo Vecchio (therefore called de castro) and some buildings characterized by porticos, alleys and cottages , it constitutes a distinct and separate nucleus with respect to the heart of Rossino, located further upstream. It is a fortified complex once extended and comprising several towers: today, in the area of the castle, remodeled and adapted several times, an original 13th century tower survives, once belonging to the Benaglio family (rulers of the San Martino Valley) and then of the Rota. Highly scenic location.

Fabbrica sali di Bario

Founded in 1902 by Pietro Cugnasca and Domenico Baggioli, this chemical factory that used barite, now abandoned and whose future destination is currently under discussion, remains one of the most significant examples of industrial archeology in the Calolian area. An office building made of bricks and stone, a brick building with archways and various sheds are dominated by the imposing chimney.

Gaspare de Ponti garden

It is an evocative botanical garden rich in variety and vegetable essences, located in the garden of the Villa De Ponti, destined to become a museum.

Ecomuseo della Valle San Martino

The Ecomuseum protects and enhances the cultural heritage of the Valley, and runs in many stages located in 6 municipalities in the province of Lecco and in 3 municipalities in the province of Bergamo. It includes several thematic itineraries of considerable historical-artistic, landscape-environmental or ethnographic value (Le Vie della Fede, the Museum Collections, the Pertus Naturalistic Route, the Valley of the Castles, the historical core of Nesolio in Erve, the Valley of the Masons, Caprino Bergamasco, historical capital of the Valley.

Fax: +39 0341 621031
Via Galli, 48/a – c/o Villa De Ponti
Website

Museo Parrocchiale Don Carlo Villa

It houses liturgical furnishings and ecclesiastical furnishings from the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, together with testimonies relating to the life of the Parish. Also interesting is the visit to the adjacent Church of San Lorenzo Vecchio, a very important religious building from an artistic point of view.

Hours: Open all year Saturday and holidays from 10:00 to 12:00 and from 15:00 to 18:00; Sunday 10:30 to 12:00 and 14:30 to 18:00 Closed on Mondays. All other days, for groups, visits on request by calling +39 0341 643259