Bagolino

The village, its history and art

Bagolino is a village whose origins date back to Roman times and its strategic position at the crossroads between Trentino, the Camonica Valley through the Crocedomìni Pass, the Trompia Valley through the Maniva Pass and Brescia through the Sand Valley, made it the ideal site to create a resting place for travellers, equipped with a stable, farrier and a small temple.

Around the year 1000 some families from nearby Lodrone, tired of the control of the Counts Lodron, moved to Bagolino and founded a Vicinia, giving life to the village itself.
This village was subject to many influences, from the Lodron Counts on behalf of the Prince-Bishops of Trento, to the Visconti and the Republic of Venice with whom important commercial relations were established.
However, it has always been a village that aspired to its autonomy, as demonstrated by the statutes, which regulated every aspect of Bagolino’s life, from public order to commerce and social affairs.
It was an economically rich town: the forges used to work the iron extracted in Val Trompia provided an important income to the Municipality, that managed them; 20% of the dairy products purchased by the Serenissima came from Bagolino, which also had its own currency.

On October 30, 1779 a fire almost completely destroyed the village. It started from the oven located in the lower part of the village and swept through the entire village in a short time.
An important economic aid to the reconstruction came from Venice, that besides the financial support sent some troops to make sure that the reconstruction respected the pre-existing properties and that the typology of buildings remained unchanged.

Today we have a medieval village preserved in every detail, with narrow paved alleys that, through arcades and stairways, allow you to immerse yourself in an atmosphere of bygone times. There are many sites of artistic, historical and cultural interest that you can admire while strolling around Bagolino