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Coast of Mezzate

The castle is truly majestic and dominates the entire surrounding valley.

Spectacular ride !! Hop on and off with great views 🚴🏻

Originally, the Torre degli Zoppi was a defensive structure that belonged to the fortified complex called “Rasetto”, owned by the noble Bergamo Zoppi family. The name "Rasetto" derives from the word "ricetto", which indicated a place of welcome and refuge. In fact, the Rasetto was used to welcome the local population, mostly peasants, in moments of attack from the outside. It can be assumed that the Rasetto was originally a place defended by wooden palisades and a moat. In the thirteenth century the construction of the village began and on that occasion the Rasetto was reinforced by stone walls; the tower was a defensive corner within this wall. Over the centuries, the Rasetto and the Tower changed their function and from defensive structures they gradually became homes for the local population.

The interiors are all frescoed and well preserved, in particular we remember the arms room which has a pavilion vault and the frescoed walls with mythological motifs, made in the eighteenth century by an unknown artist.

The castle is a vast complex made up of buildings, built in different eras (from the 12th to the 17th century), the northern part is the oldest and maintains, even after a 19th-century restoration, the typical character of medieval manors. Beyond this first nucleus, various buildings extend towards the underlying village, transformed into an attractive country residence, in which an elegant 16th century loggia opens up. The arrangement of a magnificent Italian garden, which still exists today, dates back to the 15th century.

The town of Costa di Mezzate is dominated by the Camozzi Vertova Castle which, although rising halfway up the Colle Alto called Colle San Geminiano, constitutes the most prominent element of the town. It was erected by Emperor Otto I (962) but after the final defeat of Barbarossa in the battle of Legnano (1176), the properties were assigned by the Municipality of Bergamo, to the most faithful families of the captains, the Albertoni de Vertua (Vertova), the Rogerio de Scalve and the noble Del Zoppo family of Bergamo. Around 1160 Albertus Albertoni de Vertua defended Bergamo in the war against the Barbarossa (league of Pontida) on the site of the ancient fortress. Alberto de Vertua, who also participated in the peace of Constance (1183), was awarded, and with him the descendants, the domain of the castle, becoming the progenitor of the Vertova Counts, then Camozzi Vertova, who inherited the property. In the period of the Lordships, the castle fulfilled its role of defense of the places and the inhabitants and found itself at the center of military events during the wars between Milan and Venice. After the peace of Lodi (1454), the castle lost its military function and became a Renaissance residence.

A beautiful church, so named in memory of the Madonna, who appeared "surrounded by roses" in one night to two travelers who were lost on the road between Bergamo and Brescia (near Albano). Madonna pointed them in the right direction through an illuminated path.