Coccaglio

Coccaglio lies on the southern edge of the Franciacorta, half on the plain and half on the flank of Monte Orfano, a hill that rises alone out of the fields. The mountain's name appears in the sources from 795; some explain it by that solitude among the reliefs, others hold that "Orfano" simply meant high ground. The municipal arms set two mugs and a red earthenware bottle on a blue field.

Luca Marenzio was born here in 1553, a madrigalist whose fame in his lifetime was second only to Palestrina's. The town also keeps Japanese art gathered by Pompeo Mazzocchi, a merchant and silkworm breeder: he sailed for Japan in 1864, when pebrina was ruining Italian sericulture, to fetch healthy silkworm eggs, and made the crossing fifteen times, bringing back armour, prints and household objects with the eggs. His son Cesare gave it all to Coccaglio and Torbole Casaglia.