Capriano del Colle

The hill that gives the village its name rises from the plain by fifteen, at most thirty-five metres. It is Monte Netto, an isolated reddish terrace of clay in the middle of the fields between the Mella and Brescia, and for anyone coming up from the lowland it is more than enough: in 1862 a royal decree added «del Colle», of the hill, to the old name Capriano precisely in order to distinguish it from other municipalities with the same name, and that very modest rise became the identity of the place. Today it is a regional park and the production zone of a controlled-denomination wine; according to one hypothesis the name comes from the Latin cavra, because for centuries goats were taken up there to graze.

Four thousand five hundred and fifty-three inhabitants, province of Brescia. Between 1927 and 1957 the municipality was called neither Capriano nor Capriano del Colle, but Capriano Azzano: a royal decree had abolished the neighbouring municipality of Azzano Mella and absorbed its territory, changing the name accordingly. Thirty years later the operation was carried out in reverse and Azzano regained its independence. The parish church of San Michele was rebuilt from 1675 to a design by Gianbattista Groppi and holds a Last Supper by Cossali; the bell tower, of 1737, is the work of Antonio Corbellini.