Sunken into the
mountain slopes which are sometimes steep, Lake Iseo reflects the
greenery of the surrounding Pre-Alps and of the island in the
middle. It offers, from many easily reached elevated points, a view
of a fiord among the olive trees.
Here passes the access route to the
Camonica Valley, well travelled
for centuries by armies, turmoiling faith and the riches of
commerce. Churches and castles dominate every wave and every road,
witnesses to the age old pride and faith which still breathe here.
Today still, fishermen fruitfully let
down their fishing nets,
nourishing an original gastronomic tradition that renders the taste
and the purity of the depth of the lake.
A BRIEF HISTORY
Lake-dwelling
villages have flourished around Lake Iseo since the Stone Age; the
Rhetic, the Camun and Cenoman people found a meeting place here for
their businesses.
After the domination over the people
of the Camonica Valley (16 BC),
the imposed Roman republic, with its chief town at Cividate of the
Camonica Valley, extended as far as Pisogne and Sulzano.
In Montisola,
fishing gave rise particularly to the production of
nets, launched, according to tradition, by the monks on San Paolo
Island. Wool was already being spun since the XV cent.; the lake
craftsmen created a "universitas". The passing through the lake area
of iron and semi-finished metals coming from the Camonica Valley gave
birth to blast furnaces and workshops especially in Marone.
In 1510, Pisogne was also interested in
witch hunting which raged for decades
in the Camonica Valley and numerous burnings at the stake were seen.
The opening of the coastal road (1850)
and of the railroad (1907)
reduced the commercial importance of the port of Iseo
Text Courtesy of APT Provincia di Brescia, Brescia Official Tourist Board www.bresciaholiday.com
