Castro, Lombardy

Castro is a municipality with 1400 inhabitants ( 31 December 2012) in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region Lombardy.

Geography

Castro is located 42 km northeast of the provincial capital of Bergamo on the western shore of Lake Iseo. The community is a member of the Comunità Montana Alto Sebino.

The neighboring municipalities are Lovere, Pianico, Pisogne (BS) and Solto Collina.

History and Sights

1391 and 1422 Castro is mentioned as the center of a larger independent municipality, in 1491, it belongs to " solto, Riva e uniti ". 1742 Castro became an autonomous community with the contrada La Rocca and counted at the end of the century 276 inhabitants. An increase in population is recorded at the time of the Lombardo- Venetian Kingdom (1853: 401), he was much stronger after 1900 and reached its peak in the 1951 census, with 1736 inhabitants. Since then, the trend is reversed.

The historic village is situated around the old parish church, dedicated to San Giacomo. The church was built between the fourteenth and the fifteenth century.

The church was replaced by a new, built in 1969, parish church, which is also dedicated to San Giacomo. In this valuable works from the old parish were taken.

Furthermore, there is the church of San Lorenzo, which dates from the 12th century and was built in Romanesque style and the Church " the birth of Mary ", which was built in the 13th century. It contains frescoes from the 16th century.