Breno

Breno [ˈbreːno] (Bré [ˈbre] in camunian dialect) is an Italian comune of 4,986 inhabitants in Val Camonica, province of Brescia, in Lombardy.

Geography

It is bounded by other communes of Niardo, Bagolino, Bienno, Braone, Ceto, Cividate Camuno, Condino (TN), Daone (TN), Losine, Malegno, Niardo, Prestine.

The town of Breno stands in a north-south gorge, between the castle hill and the Corno Cerreto, on the left bank of the river Oglio. According to professor Fedele the gorge was once the bed of the Oglio.

History

On top of the castle hill a house dating back to the Neolithic was discovered. In the locality Spinera, at the river Oglio, there is the Sanctuary of Minerva of the first century CE, which was ruined in the fifth century.

In the Middle Ages the Castle of Breno had two towers, one belonging to the Guelph family Ronchi, the other to the Ghibelline family Alberzoni. In the 1397 peace of Breno between Guelphs and Ghibellines, the representatives of the community of Breno sided both with the Ghibellines and the Guelphs.