Berzo Inferiore

In 1562 the visitor Giacomo Pandolfi, sent by the bishop of Brescia Domenico Bollani, ordered the authorities of Berzo to put a stop to the public dances, which were too frequent. Half a century later the Madonna intervened in another local problem: the parish church, begun in 1609, was going too slowly, and tradition tells that the Virgin appeared to Marta Damioli, wife of Tommaso Polentini, stirring people up and making it possible to finish the work. The episode is painted on the front of the sanctuary, which has a bell tower fifty-five metres high, a doorway of Sarnico stone and, inside, an altarpiece by the Fiammenghino.

The name appears in 1041 as Bercio and may come from bersium, a hedge or enclosure, or from the Iberian ber, ram. The village's history is made of contested boundaries: in 1298 a quarrel with Bovegno over the high pastures, in July 1404 destruction at the hands of the Guelphs of Predore and Adrara, who came to avenge the raids of previous years. In 1867 the provincial council of Brescia resolved to join Berzo to Bienno, but popular opposition prevented it: only the fascist law on the merging of municipalities managed it, and it lasted from 1927 to 1947. The coat of arms recalls what was really done here: a brick hearth, for the old metal forges.