Sarnico sits on the western shore of Lake Iseo, where it drains into the Oglio. Gabriele Rosa, a scholar from Iseo, traced the name to Sarnen, which became Sarnego, then Sarnicho and finally Sarnico, the form in a document of the year 862; the Celtic Sarnon, “roe deer”, and the Latin sarcinum, “sluice gate”, for the lake's closure on the river, are also cited. The town also lends its name to the sarneghéra, the squall that sets out from here and sweeps the Sebino to the Val Camonica and the Franciacorta.
In it the emperor Louis II granted lake fishing rights to monasteries in the Brescia area. In the Risorgimento it gave its name to the “fatti di Sarnico”, a Mazzinian rising against the Austrians that failed. The bell tower of the little church of San Paolo, of 1428, survives from a Marenzi castle; behind the houses lies the near-abandoned Sarnico stone quarry, crowned by the Rocca. The arms, never officially granted, bear on red a gold eight-rayed star between four gold lilies, Marian signs; for the Faccanoni, Giuseppe Sommaruga built several Liberty villas here and the family mausoleum.
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📅 Every year, on 15 January; the third Saturday of July brings the Stella Maris procession with illuminated boats
Sarnico celebrates Saint Maurus on 15 January. On the third Saturday of July, the procession of the Madonna di Stella Maris is held, accompanied by illuminated boats and a fireworks display on the lake.
Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Outside Sarnico, but an easy day trip away.
