Pisogne sits at the north-eastern corner of Lake Iseo, where the Oglio flows in and the Val Camonica begins: a crossing point between valley and lake, with a market already on record in 1229. The name is disputed: Olivieri and Gnaga trace it to the Roman gens Pisonius, Ertani to the Gaulish bo, hut, and duno, farm enclosure. At Pontasio the iron veins left a dense web of mines, and the Quattro Ossi was worked in Roman times; in Val Palot they dug for gold.
For centuries the village answered to the bishop of Brescia. In 1462 the community bought from him every property and right he held there, with one exception: the Tower, which stayed his and is still called the Torre del Vescovo. That tower is what ended up on the town's arms, silver on blue, with Ghibelline battlements. Just outside the old centre, on the valley road, the church of Santa Maria della Neve keeps the frescoes Romanino painted there in the 1530s: to have the whole wall he had the side windows bricked up, so the only light comes from the round opening in the facade. Giovanni Testori called it the Sistine Chapel of the poor.
Risotto alla Milanese
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Next up: Saint Constantius of Pisogne, patron of the Palio delle Contrade, Wednesday 12 May
Nearest airport: Bergamo Orio al Serio, 35 km away
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📅 Every year, on 12 May; every two years brings the Palio delle Contrade
Pisogne celebrates Saint Constantius the Martyr on 12 May. Every two years the Palio delle Contrade is held, a contest in which the town's different districts compete in sporting and other events.
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 Pisogne, but an easy day trip away.
